Riverdale's Supergirl
by Booksaboutnothing
Summary: A meteor storm strikes the small town of Riverdale, but it also brings with it a baby girl. The adventures of Betty Kara Cooper and her friends. A Smallville inspired Betty/Supergirl crossover.
1. Prologue

**Prologue – The Arrival**

* * *

 _16 Years ago…_

"Daddy come on you said you would take us to the Pickens Day festival," the blond young boy complained.

"Yeah Daddy you promised," his blonde sister also whined.

Hal Cooper sighed. His two young children Chic and Polly who were six and a half and four years old were excited to go to the Pickens Day festival. It was an annual event in the town of Riverdale celebrating the victory of General Pickens for the Union Army during the civil war. There were carnival rides and games, food stalls and trinkets for sale, clowns and entertainment for all ages.

"Let me just check with your mother, I want to make sure she is okay," Hal said.

He went upstairs to the master bedroom where his wife Alice was lying on her back. Her stomach bulged outward from her pregnancy; she was already more than a week past her due date.

"Honey, the kids really want to go to the festival, will you be okay?" Hal asked.

"I'll be fine," Alice said turning her head to look at her husband while she rubbed her belly with one hand. "If worse comes to worse I'll call an ambulance."

"You sure?" Hal asked again.

"Yes, now come on the kids are really excited," Alice said. "And I don't want them to resent their sister."

"Alright," Hal said. "But you call me if anything happens."

"I will," Alice promised. "Now come on, go before Polly and Chic start yelling."

Hal kissed his wife, first on the forehead, then on the belly and finally on her lips, before he turned and left the bedroom letting her nap. Chic and Polly were waiting at the bottom of the stairs for him, the two bouncing around like barely contained bundles of energy. Hal looked at them a sad expression on his face. They stopped jumping and looked at their father on the verge of tears, thinking that they weren't going to be able to go to the festival.

"Alright you two let's go," Hal said breaking out into a smile.

The two kids screamed with joy and ran to the door flinging it open.

"Hey wait up," Hal called.

However a split second later there was an explosion as their minivan was destroyed in an instant leaving nothing but a crater in the ground. The force of the explosion was enough to knock Polly and Chic to the ground. Hal quickly ran to his kids and dragged them back into the house. Outside he could hear more explosions and as he looked around he could see things streaking down from the sky and slamming into the ground.

"What the hell?" Hal muttered.

However he knew he didn't have time to think about what was happening; his first priority was to protect his family.

"Get down to the basement!" Hal ordered Polly and Chic. "I'll be down their soon with your mother."

The two frightened children nodded and ran down to the basement. Hal ran back up the stairs to find Alice struggling to get to her feet.

"Hal what's going on?" Alice asked.

"I don't know," Hal replied. "It's like we're under attack or something."

Just then something ripped through the roof tearing a hole into the ceiling just above Alice. It then slammed through the wall before landing in the backyard in an eruption of dirt and grass. Alice fell to the floor clutching at her stomach.

"Oh god, oh god," she moaned.

Hal ran to his wife's side.

"What's wrong?" Hal asked. "Is it the baby?"

"I… something isn't right," Alice said.

Hal looked at his wife in concern and suddenly she started screaming in pain.

"Oh no!" she yelled as she clutched at her midsection.

Hal ran to the phone in their bedroom but the line was dead; he realized that the lines outside must have been knocked out by one of the… whatever they were.

"It's coming!" Alice screamed.

Hal ran out into the hallway looking for towels. He opened the linen closet but couldn't find any. He then remembered that they were all downstairs with the laundry in the basement. Worriedly he ran downstairs; in the basement he saw that Polly and Chic were huddled frightened under the stairs.

"You two just stay here," Hal said as he grabbed some clean towels. "I'm going to help your mother."

"Daddy I'm scared," Polly sobbed.

Hal wanted to comfort his daughter, but the life of his second daughter probably depended on him.

"You'll be fine," Hal promised.

He ran back upstairs but it was too late. Alice was lying there on her back sobbing, clutching a dead little girl against her chest. Outside the explosions had stopped, replace by the sounds of people crying for help and the sirens of emergency vehicles.

Hal went to hug his wife but she pushed him away. Hal said nothing and just let her have her space. He decided to take a look at the hole in their roof. He hoped that their insurance would cover the damage; he was going to have to take a look at their policy. He looked out into the backyard to see just what had wrecked their home. His eyes went wide at what he saw.

"Alice, Alice come here," he said.

Alice ignored him the first time.

"Alice, you need to see this," Hal urged her.

Alice came over still holding their dead infant and crying. She wiped the tears from her eyes to look out. Her sobbing stopped and was replaced by a look of shock by what she saw.

Out in the backyard was a black egg shaped object. The top of it had opened up to reveal an infant girl inside.

"Hal, is that…?" Alice asked not finishing the question.

"I don't know." Hal replied.

They ran downstairs and out into the backyard. Hal picked up the little girl who didn't seem to be more than a few days old.

"What is she doing here?" Alice asked. "Who are her parents?"

Suddenly a transparent image of a woman appeared floating in the air just above the object.

"Thank you for finding our daughter," the woman said. "I am Alura of the planet Krypton. Our planet is much like yours but we are far more technologically advanced. However that technology has come with a steep price and unfortunately our planet is dying. My husband and I have sent our daughter Kara to your planet so that she may live. Under your yellow sun she will end up being different to the beings of your planet, she would almost be a god. Please raise her to use her abilities for the betterment of your race."

With that the image of the woman disappeared.

"It's… it's a miracle," Alice commented.

"I like the name too, Kara," Hal said.

"We already agreed we were going to call our daughter Elizabeth," Alice said firmly. "But I think Kara is a fitting middle name."

Hal looked at the little girl he was holding.

"Elizabeth Kara Cooper," he said trying the name out. "I guess welcome to Earth."


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

"Betty! Betty Cooper! Elizabeth Kara Cooper you get up now or you will be late for school!" Alice Cooper shouted up the stairs.

Betty Cooper's eyes shot open and she looked up at the ceiling. It seemed closer than it should have been. She then glanced over at her alarm to see the numbers were blinking. It looked like the power had gone out. Betty then realized that the alarm clock which should have been at the same level as her head was below her. She looked down to see that she was floating about a foot and a half above her bed.

All of a sudden she fell out of the air bounced off her mattress and fell to the floor. The 5'9" blonde teen who was turning sixteen in less than a week lay on her back for a second staring up at her ceiling in disbelief. The fall hadn't hurt at all, but she was still surprised.

"Ugh," Betty groaned as she got to her feet. "Not again."

Betty bent down and picked up her whole bed with one hand with no effort and pulled her backpack out from under it. Then with inhumanly quick speed she got dressed and was downstairs in less than ten seconds.

"Alright see you later mom," Betty called out from the front door.

"Not so fast," Alice said.

"What?" Betty protested. "I thought you said I was late."

"You are, for a normal person," Alice replied. "Normal people can't get to school in two seconds, or get dressed in ten. Just because you can do something, it doesn't mean that you should. Although one thing you can and should do is rethink that top with those pants, even I know Sheila is going to criticize that choice."

Betty hadn't really been paying attention to what she had put on and glanced down to see she was wearing a bright orange top with her blue jeans. Her friend Sheila Wu, who considered herself a fashion expert, would definitely criticize Betty's outfit.

"Ugh," Betty groaned clutching her hair. "I'll be back in flash."

A second later Betty was standing in front of her mother wearing a pink top.

"Better?" Betty asked.

"Much," Alice replied.

"Oh, Jughead's here," Betty said.

Seconds later the doorbell rang and when Alice opened it, Betty's friend Jughead Jones was standing there. Jughead a lanky teen with sleepy eyes and dark hair who stood about an inch taller than Betty. His actual first name was Forsythe, but he hated the name and instead went by his nickname Jughead, the origin of which was forgotten by everyone, even Jughead himself. Betty may have been incredibly strong and fast, but she swore that Jughead had his own special ability, the ability to eat anything and everything and not gain any weight.

"God I hate it when she does that," Alice muttered to herself.

"Sorry what Mrs. Cooper?" Jughead asked.

"Nothing, hello Jughead," Alice said quickly recovering.

"Hey Betty, you ready for the first day of school?" Jughead asked.

Betty had known Jughead for nearly her entire life. The two of them had lived just a few houses apart on the same street for their whole lives and they'd gone to school together since kindergarten.

"It can't be as bad as our first day as freshmen," Betty replied.

"Yeah, you made a complete fool of yourself when you walked up to Archie," Jughead chuckled. "I hope you don't try that again, you become a total klutz when you're around him."

"Yeah, I know," Betty grumbled.

Betty knew why that had happened. Archie wore a small pendant made from a piece of meteor from the meteor shower that had hit Riverdale on Betty's birthday almost 16 years ago. Archie had only been a few months old at the time and his parents had been killed. He now lived with his aunt and uncle who were father's older brother Fred and his wife Mary.

Betty wasn't sure why but whenever she was near a piece of meteor from that meteor shower she became incredibly weak, to the point that she could barely stand, which was unusual because Betty was superhumanly strong. And touching a piece of meteor rock caused her a great deal of pain.

"Get going you two or you'll be late," Alice said. "And try and stay out of trouble."

Betty glanced back at her mother and gave her an exasperated look. She then turned and walked out of the house with Jughead.

"So are you going to try out for the cheerleading squad this year?" Jughead asked as they walked to school.

"I don't know…" Betty replied hesitantly.

"Oh come on, I know you want to," Jughead prodded her.

"Well yeah," Betty agreed.

"Well as long as Archie Andrews isn't the one picking the team I think you're a shoe in," Jughead said.

Betty had to laugh at that.

"That probably is true," she agreed.

They rounded the corner and passed their friend Sheila's house stopping at the end of her driveway. Moments later Sheila came jogging out of the house to join them.

Sheila Wu was the same age as them. The diminutive Chinese girl was only 5'3" and had long black hair that was almost to her waist with a pair of bright pink streaks dyed into it. She was quite up on the latest fashion trends always wore stylish outfits like the perfectly matched skirt, vest and top she had on with one of the most amazing pair of knee high black leather boots Betty had ever seen.

"Hey friends," Sheila greeted them. "Nice outfit today Betty."

"You like it?" Betty asked. "I mean it's not as good as yours, can you believe I almost wore an orange top."

"Ugh, despite the shows name, orange is most definitely not the new black," Sheila said.

"Well if we can stop talking about clothes, I was just trying to convince Betty here to try out for the cheerleading squad," Jughead interrupted trying to change the subject.

"Oh Jughead is right, you should totally try out Betty," Sheila agreed. "You would look amazing in a cheerleader outfit. You've got the perfect legs for those knee high socks."

"That wasn't really what I was going for, but thanks for the support Sheila," Jughead muttered.

"Maybe you'll finally impress Archie Andrews," Sheila added.

"Impressing him isn't the problem," Betty said.

"Well how about some other cute boy, like Reggie Mantle?" Sheila suggested.

"Reggie may be good looking but he's a jerk," Betty responded. "Remember when he stuffed Dilton into his locker last year?"

"That was one time," Sheila said.

"If I didn't know better I'd think you've got the crush on Reggie Mantle there Sheila," Jughead commented with a chuckle.

"What, no… I…" Sheila stammered.

"Oh yeah, she totally does," Betty agreed.

"Yeah, so what if I do?" Sheila asked annoyed.

"Eh, you feel how you feel," Jughead responded with a shrug. "I've gotta say though it makes you come across as a little superficial."

"Oh, I'm sure Reggie is a nice guy once you get to know him, Jughead," Betty replied.

"Clearly you haven't taken gym class with him," Jughead retorted.

"Fair enough," Betty admitted.

Sheila just grumbled as she regretted saying anything.

They rounded the corner and were now just across the street from Riverdale High. They stood on the corner watching as a school bus pulled up in front of the school to let a bunch of students off. They were about to cross when Betty saw Archie and stopped in her tracks.

"Betty you coming?" Sheila called over her shoulder.

From where she was Betty could see Archie's green meteor rock pendant around his neck. She knew what would happen when she got too close to him and she wanted to keep her distance. She stayed standing on the curb watching as Archie walked towards the school for a moment.

"Yeah, yeah I'm coming," Betty replied.

She stepped out into the street to follow her friends. Just then a convertible came racing by at high speed. Betty was able to get out of the way in time thanks to her speed, but a normal person would certainly have been run over. The car came to a screeching halt not far away.

"Oh my god Jason you almost hit her," said the red-headed girl in the passenger seat.

Betty knew exactly who the red-head was, Cheryl Blossom, the captain of Riverdale High's cheerleading team. The two knew each other but they didn't exactly hang in the same social circles.

"But you said…" Jason the driver began only to be cut off when she hit him.

"Watch where you're going," the Cheryl said as she got out of the car. "You go park and bring my bags."

Betty stood watching a little dumbfounded as Cheryl got out of the car and strode around it walking up to Betty. The two girls were about the same height, but in her heels Cheryl was currently standing a few inches taller than Betty. She wore a black leather mini-skirt and a low cut green tank top.

"I am so sorry for my brother's careless driving," Cheryl apologized.

Betty thought the apology came across a little sincere but there was no point in calling Cheryl on it.

"It's alright," Betty said. "No harm, no foul."

The two walked towards the school. Betty walked past Jughead and Sheila who were staring with their mouths agape in surprise.

"If you say so," Cheryl replied. "So how was your summer?"

Betty was immediately suspicious, Cheryl wasn't exactly known for being friendly to those not in her clique.

"It was fine," Betty replied. "Why all the questions?"

"Ugh fine," Cheryl groaned. "If you must know Sherry and I had a falling out over the summer, and well I need somebody to take her place on the cheerleading squad."

"Really what happened?" Betty asked a little surprised, Sherry Thyme was practically Cheryl's best friend.

"Oh she slept with my brother," Cheryl replied. "Which normally I would have been fine with, except I explicitly told her not to because I was using Jason to recruit that new gay student Kevin to the football team and she completely ruined the illusion."

Betty wasn't entirely sure how to respond to that. She just stood there her mouth half open a stunned expression on her face.

"Anyway with Sherry gone the only blonde on the cheerleading squad is Mina Martin, and everybody knows that blonde cheerleaders are totally necessary on a squad. I could just make another girl dye her hair but really I would prefer a natural blonde." Cheryl said. "And so would the guys that watch us I think."

Betty continued to stare at Cheryl for a moment before she suddenly got what Cheryl was saying.

"Wait, you want me to be on the cheerleading squad?" Betty asked in disbelief.

"Took you long enough, I guess that is your natural colour," Cheryl quipped.

Betty ignored the blonde insult, with Cheryl such things were par for the course.

"Isn't there try-outs for that sort of thing?" Betty asked.

"I'm the captain and I pick whoever I want to be on the team," Cheryl answered. "The spot is yours if you want it."

Betty glanced over her shoulder at Sheila and Jughead who were following as they tried to listen in.

"Can I get back to you later?" Betty asked.

"You've got till lunch time," Cheryl replied. "If not I'll have to have try-outs."

Betty nodded and stopped to wait up for her friends.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Sheila exclaimed excitedly. "My best friend is going to be a cheerleader."

"Hey I haven't accepted yet," Betty said.

"And you shouldn't," Jughead stated. "Cheerleaders are a bunch of stuck-up, self-centered twits."

"Not all cheerleaders are like that," Betty said a little annoyed, her sister Polly had been a cheerleader in highschool.

"Oh yeah?" Jughead challenged her.

"Yeah, and you want to know how I know? Because I'm going to be a cheerleader," Betty declared.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!" Sheila exclaimed once more.

Betty stormed off to catch up with Cheryl. She caught up to her just in the school's foyer.

"Cheryl," Betty said tapping her on the shoulder.

"Yes?" Cheryl asked.

"I accept," Betty stated. "I'll join the squad."

"Excellent," Cheryl said with a broad smile. "The first practice is today after school."

"I'll be there," Betty said.

As Cheryl walked off Sheila and Jughead came up to your friend.

"You know she's going to assign you a member of the football team to date right?" Jughead said.

Betty looked at Jughead surprised.

"Maybe you'll get Reggie," Sheila said somewhat dreamily.

"I'm pretty sure Cheryl's dating him," Jughead reminded her.

"Oh then maybe it will be Archie," Sheila suggested.

Betty's eyes went wide with the realization that she might end up in forced close proximity to Archie. If that ended up being the case it was quite likely that her secret would be found out.

* * *

 _Hopefully people have some idea who most of the characters are, I'm going to be using a lot of the characters recently introduced in Archie just before the reboot. Please review._


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Betty was nervous throughout the rest of the day. The thought of being paired up with Archie terrified her. All her life Betty's parents had cautioned her on revealing her powers, not to reveal them until she was ready, and with the knowledge that once she did her life would never be the same again. Betty knew that she would reveal her powers one day, but she certainly wasn't ready for it to be today.

At the end of last class she was surprised to see Cheryl standing the in the hallway waiting for her.

"Meet me under the bleachers in ten minutes," Cheryl said before walking off.

Betty stood there for a long moment as the other students all swarmed past her heading to their lockers or home. She considered what she was going to do, she could go and talk to Cheryl and ask not to be paired with Archie. But that might make Cheryl suspicious. She could chicken out and not show up and just go home, but that might make Cheryl mad and Betty might become a total social outcast. Betty realized that she'd just put herself in a seemingly impossible social situation.

As Betty stood there trying to figure out what to do the hallways grew empty.

"Are you alright Betty?" somebody asked behind her.

Betty turned around to see Dilton Doiley, one of the smartest but also least popular students in the school. Betty knew he was a little weird, but she always felt he was nice and not deserving of being mistreated so much by other students.

Part of it probably was because of his size, Dilton was quite short at just 5'3" and barely 100 lbs. even Sheila was bigger than him. The other part was that he dressed the part of a nerd. With his large round glasses, his shirt and tie with pens and pencils in the breast pocket, and his pants held up with a pair of colourful suspenders with some superhero on them there wasn't much else he could do to invite bullying from the jocks of the school.

"I'm alright Dilton," Betty said. "But I think I made a bad decision."

"Can I help?" Dilton offered.

"Can you take me back in time to this morning so I can turn down Cheryl's offer to join the cheerleading squad?" Betty asked.

"Uh… no," Dilton replied. "But why wouldn't you want to be a cheerleader?"

"It's complicated," Betty said. "But I didn't consider the whole, matching with a member of the football team thing."

"Well what if you tell Cheryl that you already have a boyfriend?" Dilton suggested.

"Yeah like she's going to believe that," Betty scoffed. "I mean she knows just about everything about every guy at this school."

"Then say it's me," Dilton said. "Cheryl doesn't know anything about me. She completely ignores me, she wouldn't notice if she tripped over me."

Betty stared at him dumbfounded for a moment.

"Look we don't have to actually date or anything," Dilton said. "Whatever you need to convince her I'll do it."

"Why? Why are you helping me?" Betty asked.

"Because it's the right thing to do," Dilton answered. "And you're one of the few people who have been nice to me in the years at school."

"Well thank you Dilton," Betty said. "Now come with me."

"Where are we going?" Dilton asked.

"To meet up with Cheryl," Betty replied.

Betty grabbed Dilton by the hand and led him out to behind the bleachers of the football field. She saw Cheryl waiting there, but no other members of the cheerleading squad. However there were two members of the football team Moose Mason and Victor Johnson, two of the biggest players on the team, as well as Cheryl's brother Jason.

"Uh, what's going on here Cheryl," Betty asked. "I thought this was the first practice?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Cheryl answered as she glared at Dilton.

"I figured that you should know, that Dilton and I are dating," Betty replied with a slight pause.

Cheryl glanced back and forth between the two of them.

"No," Cheryl said with dismissive shake of her head.

"No?" Betty asked confused.

"You're not dating him, you will date who I tell you to date," Cheryl answered.

"Uh, I don't think that's how relationships work," Betty said.

"When you're on the cheerleading squad it is," Cheryl responded. "And you'll do what I ask or your boyfriend gets it."

She gave a motion and Moose and Victor advanced towards Dilton. However Betty quickly interjected herself between the two of them.

"You want to get to him you boy have got to go through me," Betty said.

The two big boys looked at each other bemused that Betty was even daring to stand up to them. They both stood more than a head taller than her and outweighed by at least two and half times her weight.

"Move or you'll get hurt," Victor said threateningly.

"Make me," Betty dared him.

"Betty, please don't," Dilton begged fearfully behind her.

Victor grabbed Betty by her arms to pick her up and move her out of the way. However the second he did Betty easily pushed his hands off of her and then gave him a shove in the chest. It was only a fraction of her strength but it was more than enough to knock Victor onto his back.

Victor looked up at her with surprise, as did everybody else.

"How did you do that?" Cheryl asked.

Betty didn't reply but just lowered her hands and looked between Cheryl, Jason, Moose and Victor.

"Look Cheryl, you invited me to join the squad," Betty said. "If you want me on the squad that means you have to accept me and who my friends are. I'm not going to just drop people from my life because you say so."

There was a long awkward silence as Betty and Cheryl stared at each other.

"Fine," Cheryl agreed. "But you don't say a thing about what happened here."

"Deal," Betty said with a nod.

Cheryl made a motion with her head and walked away with Jason, Moose and Victor following close behind.

"Okay that was amazing but impossible," Dilton said once they were gone.

"What do you mean?" Betty asked.

"The way you knocked Victor over," Dilton replied. "I mean no offense I'm sure you're in good shape for a girl, but the only way for you to generate that much force to possibly knock him over like that, is with a running start."

"Does it really matter? I just saved you from a beating courtesy of Moose and Victor," Betty said a little annoyed and a little worried that Dilton was questioning what had just happened.

"Yes and thank you for that," Dilton responded. "But…"

"I just caught him off guard Dilton," Betty replied. "That's all."

Before he could ask another question she walked away leaving Dilton dumbfounded.

* * *

Rather than head home, Betty decided to go for a walk to try and clear her head. She used her super speed to get somewhere private and in seconds she was at Knott's Bridge. The small single lane bridge was out near the rural part of town and crossed the creek that connected Jones' Pond with the main river which gave Riverdale its name. Betty liked to stand on the bridge and look out at the pond; it always seemed to calm her down.

She stood there staring out at Jones' Pond her thoughts drifting. She was worried that Dilton was going to look further into what she had done to Victor and that Cheryl might try to get revenge on her for foiling her plans. She was completely second guessing her choice to join the cheerleading squad and trying to figure out if there was some way to get out of it.

Betty was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she didn't pay attention to the sports car that was rapidly approaching. It was just seconds before impact that Betty finally snapped out of her train of thought and looked up. She couldn't see the driver through the tinted windows of the car but she heard the squeal of brakes. The car clipped Betty's leg and veered right through the side of the bridge doing a half barrel roll and crashing down into the muddy embankment bellow upside down.

Betty was knocked aside as well and landed with a soft thud beside the car on the muddy embankment. She looked over to see that the front of the car was underwater in the creek. Realizing the driver might be hurt Betty grabbed the car and flipped it back over, she then grabbed the driver side door and tried to open it but it was stuck. Seeing no other option Betty ripped the door off with one hand effortlessly.

Inside the car was a dark haired girl who was perhaps a few years older than Betty. Betty thought something about her looked familiar, she was quite pretty, but Betty couldn't place her face right away. Who she was, wasn't the immediate concern though and she pulled the girl from the car and carried her up the embankment and checked to see if she was alright. The girl seemed to be fine despite being unconscious, but Betty was going to let a medical professional make the final determination. She pulled out her phone and called 911.

"What's the nature of your emergency?" The operator asked.

"I'm out at Knott's Bridge, there's been an accident," Betty replied. "Send an ambulance."

Betty then lay down on the embankment beside the girl and stared up at the sky. She wasn't sure why, but she felt that her life had changed for good now. Not much longer after that Betty heard the sound of sirens, although she knew they were still a couple minutes away; she had always seemed to have a far better sense of hearing than anybody else. She could hear somebody's footsteps walking up the driveway to the house even when the door was closed.

As sirens approached and grew louder the girl beside Betty began to stir. Betty sat up to check on her.

"Are you alright?" Betty asked.

The girl blinked in surprise as she looked up at Betty.

"Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm Betty, Betty Cooper," Betty replied. "Are you okay? You were in a car accident."

"I… I… didn't I hit you?" the girl asked.

Betty wasn't sure how to respond. However her first instinct was to deny.

"No, you uh tried to swerve but ended up driving off the bridge," Betty said. "I pulled you out of the car and called the ambulance."

The girl frowned as if she couldn't quite remember what had happened. She tried to sit up but Betty firmly put a hand on her shoulder to hold her down.

"You shouldn't sit up right away," Betty said. "First tell me, your name, the date and where we are."

"I'm Veronica Lodge, it's my first day in this rinky-dink town of Riverdale." She replied pushing Betty's hand away although she was a little surprised by how much effort it took.

Betty for her part was surprised to learn who the girl was. Everybody in town knew who the Lodges were. They were a one of the wealthiest families in the country. Veronica's father Hiram had taken a real-estate development company and turned into one of the biggest corporations in the world, Lodge Corp. The family's fortunes had actually taken a turn not long after the meteor shower that hit Riverdale. Lodge Corp had been pretty much the sole company responsible for the clean-up and rebuild of Riverdale.

But Veronica herself had recognition outside of being from such a wealthy family. She had graduated high school at just 14 years old and had finished University before she was 17. She'd then caused quite a stir when she formed her own fashion company in an effort to prove she was capable of working for her father while at the same time getting her master's degree. Now she was 20 and working for her father and at the same time working on getting her doctorate in xenobiology.

"Why are you staring at me?" Veronica asked.

Betty stood up suddenly realizing that she had been staring at Veronica in surprise for what was an awkwardly long moment.

"Sorry," Betty apologized. "I… uh, you're probably the most famous person I've ever met."

"Really? That's kind of sad," Veronica commented slightly conceitedly.

Before Betty could say anything a fire truck and an ambulance arrived. The paramedics and firemen came running over to the two girls.

"Are you two okay?" the first fireman to reach them asked.

"I'm fine but you should check on her," Betty answered pointing at Veronica. "She was the one in the car."

The fireman took a look at the totalled car and then at Veronica.

"You're lucky to be alive," he said.

"Yes… lucky," Veronica muttered.

Veronica felt that there was something strange about this whole situation. Especially since a girl who was still in high school somehow pulled her from her car. She noticed that the door was torn off, but it didn't seem to be caused by the crash.

Despite her appearance there was something not normal about this Betty Cooper and Veronica was determined to find out what.

* * *

 _I made Veronica a little older because she's taking on the Lex Luthor role in this story and for some of the things I want her to do it makes more sense for her to be older._

 _Anyway please review_


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Hal Cooper came to a stop just short of Knott's Bridge. He didn't know what had happened all he knew was that the police had told him that Betty was involved. The bridge was blocked by a police car and there was a fire truck and ambulance on the other side. Hal got out of his car and ran across the bridge.

"Betty? Betty?" he called out.

"I'm right here dad," Betty replied.

Hal saw that she was talking with a police officer and he ran over to his daughter. The police officer nodded that he was finished to Betty and she turned and hugged her father.

"What happened?" Hal asked.

"I, uh, helped somebody who was in an accident," Betty replied.

Hal glanced over to see the car upside down partially in the creek. He took note of the ripped off door and looked up at the bridge where the car had gone through.

"What really happened here?" Hal asked in a whisper.

Betty looked around to make sure nobody was listening in.

"The girl driving the car hit me," Betty responded. "I'm perfectly fine though."

"You're sure?" Hal asked.

"Not a scratch on me," Betty replied. "But there's something you should know…"

Before Betty could continue another man came over followed by Veronica. He had grey hair and wore glasses and an expensive navy suit.

"So you're the one who rescued my daughter," the man said.

"And who are you?" Hal asked.

"Hiram Lodge," the man responded. "And I believe I should thank you for raising such an upstanding young woman."

"I was just trying to do the right thing like anyone would have," Betty mumbled.

"Nonsense my dear," Hiram said. "Unfortunately this day in age most people wouldn't have reacted as you did, and I'd have gotten a call that my daughter had died in an accident not just that she had been in one."

Betty blushed and looked down at her feet, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Let us thank you for saving my life," Veronica said. "Why don't you and your family come over to our house for dinner?"

"We've already got plans for tonight," Hal said.

"Well perhaps tomorrow night then?" Hiram suggested.

"Yeah, we'll think about it," Hal replied.

"Well here's my card, call me," Hiram said holding out a business card.

Hal took the card and glanced at briefly before putting it in his pocket. He then grabbed Betty by the arm and led her back to his car without another word.

"That was kind of rude dad," Betty said.

"You don't want to associate with people like the Lodges," Hal said. "They profited on the disaster that hit the town on the day you arrived. They turned it into a multi-billion dollar fortune."

Betty knew about the Lodge's and where there money had come from. What struck her as odd was that her father had said arrived instead of born.

"What do you mean arrived dad?" Betty asked.

Hal sighed; he had been dreading this day but he knew that he would have to tell Betty eventually.

"Get in the car," he said. "We're going for a drive."

The car ride was awkwardly silent. Betty wasn't entirely sure where they were going at first as her father was driving away from Riverdale out into the country. However as they turned down a familiar rural road Betty soon realized where they were and moments later they turned down the driveway to a farm.

"Why are we at Grandma and Grandpa Munroe's farm?" Betty asked.

The farm belonged to her mother's parents. Grandma Munroe had died back when Betty was only five years old and Grandpa Munroe had developed Alzheimer's and had been living in an assisted living facility for the past two years. The farm house wasn't being used and the neighbour was being allowed to use the fields.

"You'll see," Hal replied as he came to stop beside the farm house.

He got out of the car and Betty followed him still confused. He walked behind the house where the barns were. There were two of them, the new barn which had been constructed shortly after Betty had been born, and the old barn which was falling apart. Hal led Betty over to the old barn and went inside.

The barn was pretty dirty and for the most part empty with the exception of some very rusted old farm equipment and something that was covered by a filthy canvas tarp. Hal walked over to the tarp and yanked it off. Betty starred at what was underneath it confused.

It was egg shaped and black but the back of it had a pair of small fins. Betty slowly walked around it and saw that it had what looked like a trio of small rockets on the back, but they didn't look like anything she had seen before. It looked like something from a science fiction movie, like a space pod or something.

"I don't get it dad," Betty said.

Hal didn't answer instead he just placed a hand on the side of the pod. Suddenly it hissed and the top opened to reveal a compartment that was perhaps large enough to hold a baby, maybe a toddler. Just then an image of a transparent woman appeared in mid-air hovering just above the pod. Betty wasn't sure why but something about her seemed very familiar.

"Thank you for finding our daughter," the woman said. "I am Alura of the planet Krypton. Our planet is much like yours but we are far more technologically advanced. However that technology has come with a steep price and unfortunately our planet is dying. My husband and I have sent our daughter Kara to your planet so that she may live. Under your yellow sun she will end up being different to the beings of your planet, she would almost be a god. Please raise her to use her abilities for the betterment of your race."

And then the image of the woman vanished.

"Dad… what's going on?" Betty asked slowly.

"Betty, the day of the meteor shower, you weren't born." Hal struggled to explain. "Your mother was pregnant, and the shock of our house being struck by a meteor forced her into labour. Our daughter was stillborn."

Betty was confused, none of this made any sense.

"However it turns out that it wasn't a meteor that struck our house, it was this… ship," Hal continued. "And inside it was you."

"What are you saying dad?" Betty asked tears welling up in her eyes.

"Your mother and I, we had been excited to have a daughter, and then we'd lost her only for you to show up immediately afterwards, it was like a miracle," Hal said.

But that wasn't the answer Betty had wanted.

"Dad… are you saying… are you saying I'm an alien?" Betty asked as she choked back tears.

"If that message is to be believed… yes," Hal replied on the verge of tears himself.

Betty stood there in stunned silence, her mouth hanging open. It was like a bomb had gone off. Hal stepped over and hugged her while Betty just stood there staring at the space ship.

"That's why your middle name is Kara," Hal explained. "And I think that's why you've always felt weak around the meteor rocks. I think they're from your planet, perhaps why it was destroyed and that's probably why they make you feel weak."

"So that… that was my birth mother?" Betty asked.

"Yes, and you look so much like her," Hal replied.

"So why is the ship… my ship… hidden here in Grandpa's old barn?" Betty asked.

"Because if anybody knew we had an alien baby they would have taken you away from us," Hal replied. "From the moment your mother and I first saw you we knew that you were our daughter."

Betty smiled and hugged her father.

"Oh, ow, too tight Betty!" Hal grunted.

"Oh sorry," Betty apologized.

"It's alright," Hal said.

Betty stepped past her father and knelt down beside the ship. It was hard to believe that she had once been small enough to fit inside it, let alone that it had carried her here from another planet. She placed a hand on the ship and suddenly it began to hum.

"Uh, what's happening?" Betty asked standing up and backing away.

"I… I don't know," Hal stammered. "The only thing it had ever done before was play that message from your mother."

Suddenly the ship began hovering a few feet above the barn floor.

"Hello Kara," a voice came from the ship.

Betty and Hal both looked at each other confused.

"What's going on?" Betty asked. "Why are you calling me that?"

"You are Kara Zor-El, daughter of Zor-El and Alura In-Ze," the ship replied.

"How… how do you know?" Betty asked nervously.

"I have been programmed to protect you on this planet and to teach you about your heritage." The ship replied. "Now come with me."

The ship turned and its engines began to glow.

"No," Betty said.

The engines dimmed and ship turned back around.

"No?" the ship asked.

"I'm not going anywhere," Betty said. "I don't care where I was from this is my home now and this is father and I'm leaving with him, not you."

"Very well, if you will not come willingly I will make you," the ship said.

Suddenly a yellow beam shot from the nose of ship striking Betty and making her drop to her knees.

"Betty!" Hal exclaimed.

Without thinking of his own safety Hal stepped in between Betty and ship the beam striking him. Betty recovered almost immediately and saw her father struggling and crying out in pain. In a split second she leapt over him and kicked down on the ship causing the nose to slam into the ground. The ship then stopped humming and fell to the ground with a clang. Betty stared at it for a second, but it seemed to be offline. She then turned around to her father.

"Dad are you alright?" Betty asked.

"It hurts but I think I'll be okay," he replied as he climbed to his feet.

"Come on let's get out of here," Betty said.

They covered the ship back up with the tarp and went back to the car.

"Today has been a crazy day dad," Betty said as she got into the passenger seat.

"That it has," Hal agreed.

"I just want you to know that I meant what I said in there," Betty told him. "It doesn't matter where I came from or who my birth parents are; you are my father, mom is my mother and Polly is my sister."

"What about Chic?" Hal asked.

"Eh, I guess he can be my brother," Betty said with a laugh.

The car ride home was far less awkward than the one out to the farm had been.

* * *

 _I noticed that I had posted chapter 4 twice and left this one out, that has been fixed_


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

As Hal pulled the car into the driveway Betty saw her mother come running out, followed not long after by her older sister Polly. Polly who was twenty was attending Riverdale College for broadcasting course with the hopes of going into the TV business and she still lived at home. Her brother Chic had left to join the Air Force and was currently at officer training out in Colorado at the Air Force Academy.

"Oh my gosh Betty," Alice exclaimed as Betty got out of the car. "Are you all right."

Before Betty could reply she was engulfed in a hug for her mother.

"Yes, I'm fine mom," Betty replied.

"Well what happened?" Alice asked. "Why didn't you call me Hal?"

"I told her," Hal responded simply.

Alice went quiet and just looked from Hal to Betty and back to Hal.

"Told her what?" Polly asked feeling left out.

"Dad told me the truth," Betty replied, "About where I'm from."

"What do you mean?" Polly asked more confused than ever.

"Perhaps we should go inside," Hal suggested.

Alice nodded and together the family went inside. Hal had them all sit down in the living room.

"You probably don't remember much of the day Polly," Hal said. "The day of the meteor shower."

"Well yeah I do," Polly said. "I mean that was the day Betty was born."

"That's the day, a Betty was born," Alice corrected her. "But not the one you grew up with."

"What do you mean?" Polly asked confused.

"I'm an alien," Betty blurted out.

"Yeah you're a little weird, and you've got strange abilities," Polly said.

"No I arrived that day in a space ship," Betty interrupted her. "Dad showed me the ship today."

Polly looked over at her parents; she thought that Betty was playing a joke on her or something. However neither parent seemed at all surprised by what Betty had just said.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Polly asked a little annoyed.

"It's no joke," Hal said. "Your mother gave birth that day, but the baby was stillborn. We buried her out on your grandparents' farm, the same place we hid the spaceship."

"Wait you're serious?" Polly exclaimed.

"Betty arrived in a ship, that's what hit our house," Alice explained. "She came with a message asking us to raise her. We figured the easiest thing was to pretend that she was the girl I had given birth to. We hid the ship at my parent's farm and buried the baby and nobody was the wiser, at least at first."

"But… but she even looks like us," Polly stammered.

"There was a message, a hologram or something, from my birth mother," Betty said. "She looks like a normal human. Actually she kind of looked a bit like mom, like they could have been sisters."

"Does Chic know about this?" Polly asked.

"Yes he knows," Hal replied. "He was old enough to remember and he helped out with hiding the ship. He's kept the truth secret all these years, even from you."

"Why didn't you tell her?" Betty asked.

"Yeah, why not?" Polly inquired.

"Because the fewer people who knew the truth the safer you were Betty," Alice replied. "And it was such a big secret for a young girl to keep. We didn't want to burden you with the truth Polly."

Without another word Polly stood up and ran upstairs to her room.

"Let me talk to her," Betty said.

She left her parents in the living room and followed Polly upstairs where she knocked on Polly's door.

"Go away," Polly called out from inside.

"It's just me," Betty said as she opened the door.

Polly was sitting on her bed staring out the window with her back to the door. She didn't say anything as Betty entered the room, closing the door behind herself and sat down beside Polly.

"I know this was a big bombshell dropped on you," Betty said. "It is for me too, I mean think how I feel Polly. For nearly 16 years I thought I was just different for some reason, now today I find out I'm not even from this planet."

Polly brought her hand up and wiped away some tears and for the first time Betty realized that her older sister was crying.

"Look at me I'm being so self-centered," Polly said. "So worried about myself and not even thinking about what kind of effect this has on you."

"It's a lot to take in," Betty admitted. "But as I told dad in the car, you are still my family. It doesn't matter where I'm from. This is where I grew up, you're my older sister and nothing is going to change that. It's no different than if I were an adopted child from here on Earth."

"God there you go making me seem like the younger sister with your grown up attitude," Polly said with a slightly forced laugh.

"It's been a crazy day Polly," said Betty commented as she flopped backwards and stared up at the ceiling.

"Yeah, Mom and Dad freaked when they heard about the accident," Polly said as she lay back beside her sister.

"You won't believe who the driver of the car was," Betty said. "Veronica Lodge."

"The girl genius billion dollar princess?" Polly asked propping herself up on one elbow suddenly intrigued.

"Oh yeah, you kind of look up to her don't you?" Betty replied as she turned on her side to face her sister.

"What was she like?" Polly asked.

"Well to be honest I didn't really talk to her much," Betty said. "But she's quite stunning, even after a car accident."

"Figures," Polly said with a sigh as she lay back down. "Rich people have all the luck."

"I don't think being rich has anything to…" Betty began.

"Just let me have this one," Polly interrupted her.

Betty just chuckled and sighed.

"Oh, I was asked to join the cheerleading squad today," Betty mentioned.

"Really? That's awesome," Polly said sitting up.

"Well I don't know," Betty said. "Cheryl the captain tried to force me to hook up with one of the football players. Dilton offered to pretend to be my boyfriend to try and get me out of it, but Cheryl just got them to try and beat him up. I had to step in and defend him."

"Oh god what happened?" Polly asked.

"Nothing serious, but I did knock over a guy that probably weighs three times what I do," Betty replied. "So now Dilton is suspicious. I think my social life at school might be over."

"Don't worry about that," Polly said. "I've been out of school two years and I barely see anybody from school anymore, just the few who are in my program at college. And being a cheerleader can be fun and get you dates, but once you're done highschool nobody really cares."

"Thanks Polly, I needed that big sister advice," Betty responded.

Just then there was a soft knock on the door.

"Do you girls want to come down for dinner?" Alice asked.

"We'll be right down Mom," Polly replied.

Polly turned to face Betty once again.

"Let's make a pact," Polly said. "No matter what happens from here on out we're always going to remain sisters regardless of who our parents actually are."

"Deal," Betty agreed with a grin.

The two of them then went downstairs where their mother was serving up a chicken casserole for dinner. All four of them sat down at the kitchen table to eat.

"So when you rescued Veronica Lodge did they offer you anything?" Polly asked.

"Well Hiram Lodge invited us to dinner," Betty replied. "But dad turned him down."

"Dad, why?" Polly asked in shock.

"We don't need to associate with people like the Lodge's," Hal said. "They profit off the misfortune of others."

"Really Hal, from one thing almost sixteen years ago," Alice said with tinge of disapproval.

"It's not just from that, although the fact that they made a fortune off the disaster that hit this town doesn't sit right with me," Hal stated. "They bought the cereal factory with plans of shutting it down to build something else."

"Why's that a bad thing?" Polly asked.

"A lot of people are going to lose their jobs," Hal said. "People with pensions there will lose those."

"But won't there be jobs building whatever they plan to build and then at the place, whatever it might be?" Betty inquired.

"I don't think you're getting the point," Hal said raising his voice with his frustration.

"Hal I know that you have friends that work at that factory," Alice said punishingly. "But that's no reason to yell at your daughters."

"Sorry," Hal apologized before he looked down at his dinner and began eating again.

"Mr. Lodge invited us over for dinner tomorrow night," Betty said. "I think we should go."

"Me too," Polly agreed.

Hal looked up and glared at his daughters.

"I think so too," Alice stated.

"Well the three of you can go," Hal said. "But I'm not."

"I think you're being silly about all this Hal, I mean it's just dinner, but that's your loss." Alice said.

From then on the Cooper's ate dinner in awkward silence. When they were done Polly and Betty helped their mother with the dishes while Hal went downstairs to his man cave to watch TV. Polly then went to her room to do homework as did Betty.

* * *

That night when Betty fell asleep she had a strange dream. She dreamt about the ship, it had come to the house but now it was bigger, almost the size of a school bus. The ship fired a yellow beam through her bedroom window and Betty found herself helpless and being dragged into the ship unable to do anything about it. Just as she was entering the ship Betty woke up.

Betty glanced to see that she was floating in the air more than four feet away from her bed near her window. Suddenly she fell to the floor with a thump.

"What the hell," Betty muttered confused as she got back to her feet.

She wasn't exactly sure what to make of the dream or the fact that once again she'd found herself floating in midair in defiance of gravity. She looked at her alarm clock to see that it was about ten minutes before her alarm was set to go off anyway.

"Betty are you okay in there?" she heard her mother ask from the other side of her door.

"Yeah, just a bad dream mom," Betty replied. "Made me fall out of bed when I woke up with a start."

"Alright, well if you want I'm making pancakes." Alice informed her.

"Blueberry?" Betty inquired.

"Chocolate chip," Alice answered.

"Even better!" Betty said.

Betty went over to closet to pick out an outfit. She figured that she should be a little more conscious of what she was wearing today. After picking something out Betty went to the bathroom to have a shower. As she got there she saw Polly emerging from her bedroom looking to do the same.

"I'll be quick," Betty said.

"Really?" Polly asked.

"Not even two minutes," Betty promised.

"I'm timing you," Polly said.

Betty disappeared into the bathroom and turned on the shower. The moment it was warm enough she stepped under the water and using her super speed she was able to wash her hair and body in a matter of seconds and rinse off. She then dried herself off using her speed once more and was out of the bathroom.

"Cutting it close Betty," Polly said looking at her phone. "One minute fifty-eight seconds."

"Took longer for the water to heat up than I thought it would," Betty complained.

"You know your alien DNA is probably why you never had to deal with acne," Polly said as she went into the bathroom and locked the door. "Count yourself lucky."

As Betty headed back to her room she thought about what Polly had just said. She hadn't suffered any broken bones or cuts or anything as a child because she was invulnerable. But when she thought about it she also hadn't ever been sick nor had acne or any of things that normal people dealt with.

Betty got dressed put on a white tank top trimmed with red and a blue skirt. She tied her hair back in a simple pony tail and then went downstairs where she was might by the enticing aroma of her mother's chocolate chip pancakes.

"Well don't you look lovely this morning," Alice commented as Betty entered the kitchen.

"I don't look any different than any other morning," Betty responded.

"Here enjoy your pancakes," Alice said as she handed Betty a stack of three pancakes.

Betty sat down to eat and was about half done when she realized something.

"Where's dad?" Betty asked her mouth still half full.

"He said he had to head out early to do something before work," Alice replied.

Betty thought that was a little odd but she decided not to think anything of it and went back to eating. She was just finishing her second helping of pancakes when Polly finally came downstairs.

"Good morning Polly, do you want some pancakes?" Alice offered.

"No, unlike some of us I need to watch my figure," Polly replied. "Of course now I know why."

Betty got up and cleared her plate. She wasn't sure if her sister was joking or not with her comments.

"Jughead's here," Betty said. "See you guys later."

She left the kitchen and picked up her backpack and opened the front door just as Jughead was at the bottom of the stoop.

"Hey Jughead," Betty greeted him.

"Hey yourself," Jughead responded. "How come you didn't call me about what happened yesterday?"

"About what?" Betty asked.

"You saved the life of Veronica Lodge," Jughead said. "It's the talk of the whole town."

Betty was surprised, she didn't think that the story was going to become town wide news. But in the small town of Riverdale news could travel fast.

"I didn't think it was that big a deal," Betty replied as they walked down the driveway.

"A big deal? You just saved the life of one of the richest people on the planet," Jughead said.

"Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod!" came the voice of Sheila.

The both looked up to see her running towards them, she came to a stop out of breath.

"You okay?" Betty asked her friend slightly concerned.

"I'm good, but you, you're like famous now Betty," Sheila said. "You're like best friends with Veronica Lodge."

"I wouldn't say that, I saved her but I barely know her," Betty responded.

"Well apparently she's going to be at the school today, there's like a ceremony to thank you and everything." Sheila told her.

"What?" Betty exclaimed. "How come nobody told me?"

"Oh… maybe it was supposed to be a surprise," Sheila replied a bit sheepishly. "Sorry."

As they walked to school Sheila and Jughead both asked Betty about what had happened out at Knott's Bridge yesterday. Betty gave them brief answers which were clearly not satisfactory for their curiosity. However her mind was more on the apparently ceremony that was going to be at the school today, the last thing she wanted was to be on stage in front of the whole school for what she had done yesterday.

* * *

 _Probably going to be another chapter still till we get into some heavy action but we'll get to see what Veronica's motives are in the next chapter; it will be some rather non-traditional interaction between the famous blonde and brunette. Please review._


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

* * *

As Betty, Jughead and Sheila arrived at school, Jughead and Sheila were still pestering Betty for details about what had happened the day before. In front of the school where the school bus normally stopped was a big stretch limousine that was perhaps longer than the school bus. Betty figured it meant that Veronica, and probably her father as well, were already here at the school.

"Wow have you ever seen a limo that big?" Sheila asked.

She and Jughead continued to yammer on while Betty slowly walked in between not paying attention to a thing that they were saying. As they crossed the street Betty saw Cheryl approaching, her brother Jason following close behind her carrying several bags. Betty braced herself not sure what Cheryl was intending to do.

"Well if it isn't Little Miss Perfect," Cheryl said somewhat snidely.

"Excuse me?" Betty asked a little confused.

"You go and get me in trouble with the Bee for trying to set you up with a football player, and then you go out and save the life of the daughter of the richest man in town," Cheryl stated.

"I didn't say anything to anybody about what happened yesterday," Betty said.

"What happened yesterday?" Sheila asked.

"So it was the little twerp," Cheryl muttered. "Dill weed."

"It's Dilton," Betty corrected her. "And just leave him alone. I doubt any of this would be an issue if you hadn't tried to push the issue yesterday."

"I can kick you off the team," Cheryl threatened.

"Sure, fine go ahead," Betty said with a shrug. "But I don't think that kicking me off the team right now would be a very popular decision. Sure maybe you could convince the rest of the squad, but I think the rest of the school would be on my side. And I haven't said anything to the Bee, but I could."

Cheryl and Betty locked eyes and stared at each other for a long moment. Jughead took a step back nervously while Sheila was rubbing her hands together in anticipation of some kind of blow up between Betty and Cheryl. Eventually Cheryl raised her right hand, Betty thought perhaps Cheryl was going to slap her and got ready to fake getting slapped because if she just stood there Cheryl might end up breaking her own hand.

However Cheryl didn't slap Betty, instead she just snapped her fingers. Jason stepped forward and reached into one of the bags he was holding and pulled out a cheerleader uniform.

"Here's your uniform," Cheryl said as Jason handed it to her. "Our first practice is tomorrow."

With that she turned and walked away into the school Jason scurrying after her.

"Wouldn't that be the second?" Betty called after her sarcastically.

Cheryl didn't even bother to look back at Betty.

"Well that was unexpected," Sheila commented.

"Don't you think it's weird how she leads her brother around like a trained dog?" Jughead asked.

"Yes it is and no, he's more of a trained monkey," Betty responded to both of them.

Her response drew laughter from both of her friends.

The three of them then went inside the school. As they were making their way to their lockers they were stopped in the hallway by Miss Grundy the English teacher.

"Principal Weatherbee would like to see you in his office before the start of class Ms. Cooper," Miss Grundy said.

With that she turned and walked off.

"Oh man the Bee," Sheila said using their nickname for their principal. "That's never a good thing."

"It's got to be about the ceremony," Jughead said. "I mean Betty hasn't done anything else. Well unless it's about what happened with Cheryl yesterday."

Betty sighed, "I guess I'll see you guys in class," she said.

Betty turned and headed towards the Principal's Office. As a rule Betty had always tried to stay out of any trouble because she didn't want to bring any untoward attention to herself; so because of that she had almost never been to the Principal's office. She was nervous as she grabbed onto the door handle. She suddenly realized how tightly she had gripped it; there were slight indents from her fingertips. She ran her hand over the door rapidly to smooth it out, it worked but it wasn't perfect. Without further delay she opened the door to the office.

"Oh Miss Cooper you're here," the secretary Miss Phillips said. "Mr. Weatherbee is waiting for you in his office."

Mr. Weatherbee had a section of the office which was behind a door that was closed at the moment. It was where he often screamed and yelled at the troublesome students. Miss Phillips used the phone to inform Mr. Weatherbee that Betty had arrived and a moment later he opened the door to his office.

"Miss Cooper please come in," he said.

Mr. Weatherbee was a tall heavy set man who was almost completely bald. His large frame almost filled the entire doorway but when he stepped back into his office Betty saw that Veronica and her father were in there already seated in front of Weatherbee's desk.

"I believe you already know Mr. Lodge and his daughter Veronica," Mr. Weatherbee said.

"Hello again," Betty said somewhat nervously.

Betty couldn't help but feel like the Lodges were looking her over as if they were studying her, sizing her up; it was somewhat unnerving.

"Betty, I'd like to thank you once more for saving my daughter's life yesterday," Hiram said standing up and offer his hand.

Betty nodded as she shook his hand, but said nothing.

"So I'm sure you've already heard what's happening today Miss Cooper," Weatherbee said as he sat down at his desk. "I would have preferred for it to be a surprise but in this town that's next to impossible."

"I really don't think any of this is necessary…" Betty started to say.

"Nonsense my girl," Hiram said standing up. "You are a hero and you deserve this."

"I…" Betty began to protest.

"She's so modest," Weatherbee commented. "She's what we want all our students to be like."

"Oh god no," Betty muttered to herself quietly enough that nobody else heard.

"We're going to be having a brief assembly today," Weatherbee continued. "The fire chief will be bring a medal of heroism which he will say a few words about, and then Mr. Lodge here will present your with the medal. He'll also be making a donation to the school. "

"Yes, we'll be providing the school with all new Lodge Corp computers," Hiram said. "As well as ten thousand dollars for the athletics program."

"That's a generous donation," Betty commented, knowing full well that it wasn't even a drop in the bucket that was the Lodge family's wealth.

"We'd like it if you could just say a few words after the medal presentation," Weatherbee said. "You know just something about what made you perform such an act of heroism."

Betty could feel a lump in throat forming. She didn't like public speaking and she didn't like talking about herself, so publicly speaking about herself was a nightmare. Tack onto that the fact that she was going to have to lie and make something up just made things even worse. However she just nodded reluctantly.

"Can I go to class now?" Betty asked.

"Yes, the assembly will be at the end of first period so we can get the auditorium ready," Weatherbee replied. "I've already told Miss Grundy."

Betty turned, and while she could have left much quicker, she left as fast as she could without using her powers.

"Well I'm going to go see how the auditorium is coming along," Weatherbee said to the Lodge's. "You can wait in my office or if you're hungry I'm sure Ms. Beasley our cafeteria worker would be more than happy to make something for you."

"Uh, no thank you," Veronica said slightly disgusted at the very thought of eating cafeteria food.

"We'll be fine," Hiram said a bit more politely.

Weatherbee nodded and left the office closing the door behind. Veronica reached into her purse and pulled out her tablet, she opened it up and began going over the information on it.

Veronica was incredibly suspicious of this Betty Cooper girl. While her memory of the crash was foggy Veronica was almost certain that she had hit Betty with her car. But Betty had walked away without a scratch on her. After going home she'd done an extremely thorough background check on the girl. Of note she'd found that Betty had been born on the day of the meteor shower that had hit the town. Her grades were good but not great, she had no criminal record, seemed to be an excellent swimmer and she had never gotten a late fee at the library. She was now looking over Betty's medical history which had taken a bit more time to get a hold of.

"Are you sure about this girl?" Hiram asked his daughter. "Do you think this is worth it?"

Veronica didn't bother to answer him but continued to fly through Betty's medical records, reading at a speed that only a few people on the planet could manage.

"There's definitely something different about this girl," Veronica said. "She doesn't have a single hospital entry for any kind of injury whatsoever. What kind of child goes through life without getting hurt? I mean even I broke my arm when I was five."

"The kind that live in bubbles, or with over protective parents," Hiram answered.

"She was standing in the middle of a single lane bridge," Veronica retorted. "That doesn't strike me as behaviour of an overly cautious person afraid of injury. And while her father seemed worried he didn't strike me as the overly protective parent type."

"You have a point but it doesn't prove anything, it's just circumstantial," Hiram said.

"I know," Veronica said. "But I'll come up with proof."

* * *

Betty arrived at class a few minutes late, however Miss Grundy knew that she had been at the Principal's Office so she didn't punish Betty for her tardiness. She made her way to her usual spot in the back corner of the classroom where Sheila was in the seat in front of her and Jughead to her left. As she was sitting down Cheryl raised her hand.

"Yes Miss Blossom?" Miss Grundy asked.

"How come you're not sending Betty to the office for being late?" Cheryl asked.

"Because she just came from the office," Miss Grundy replied. "And any more of that out of you and you'll be sent to the office, and I don't think Mr. Weatherbee will want to see you yet again."

The class chuckled while Cheryl looked around a little flustered.

"Anyway as I was saying…" Miss Grundy said as she went back into her lesson.

"So what happened?" Jughead whispered.

"Yeah give us the details," Sheila insisted as she turned around.

"There's going to be an assembly at the end of first period," Betty replied. "The fire chief will be there, and Mr. Lodge is making a donation to the school on my behalf."

"That's awesome," Jughead said.

"I haven't told you the worst part," Betty said. "They want me to go on stage and essentially give myself praise."

"Oh, and that's what you're wearing?" Sheila asked as she winced.

"Really? What's wrong with it?" Betty retorted.

Sheila turned back around and rummaged through her backpack. Before Betty knew what was happening Sheila was coming at her with a pair of scissors. She had to fight the urge to do anything with her strength knowing that she could accidentally kill her friend.

"What are you doing?" Betty asked.

Sheila just smiled as grabbed Betty's white tank top and being cutting away at the neckline making a V to make the gap larger to the point that some of her cleavage was exposed. Sheila triumphantly held the cut off fabric aloft and gave a triumphant grin.

"Now you look much better," Sheila said. "Although maybe if it was cropped…"

"No more," Betty said as she snatched the scissors away from Sheila. "I feel kind of naked already."

"Spoil sport," Sheila complained.

"You'll get these back after the assembly," Betty said. "And you're lucky I'm wearing a bra today."

"Why wouldn't you be wearing a bra?" Jughead asked.

Betty didn't answer his question but just glared angrily at both her friends and then focused her attention on Miss Grundy's lesson.

About ten minutes before the scheduled end of class Mr. Weatherbee came on the school's PA system asking everyone to make their way to the auditorium. Betty and the rest of her class were seated in the front row. There was a podium set up on the stage and a row chairs. Betty saw that Veronica Hiram Lodge and a man she guessed was the Fire Chief, were seated on the stage. Mr. Weatherbee was currently talking to them with his back to the audience.

Once everybody was inside Weatherbee called for everyone to be seated and settle down. Once it had quieted down to his liking he began.

"Heroism is not something that can be taught in a classroom," Weatherbee said. "We can tell you what makes a hero, how to act like a hero. You can know what a hero would do, but it takes a certain kind of person to actually do what hero would. And today we are here to reward one our own who's heroism saved the life of Veronica Lodge, of the Lodge Family, Betty Cooper."

The entire school applauded and Weatherbee motioned for Betty to join him on stage. Betty rather reluctantly went up on stage. She somewhat subconsciously was holding onto the neckline of her tank top that Sheila had made larger covering herself up. She saw Sheila waving her hands trying to tell Betty not to cover up. Betty didn't want to uncover, but when Principal Weatherbee held out his hand to shake it she was forced to. With her sensitive hearing she could make out a few lewd comments from some of the boys in the audience.

Weatherbee stepped away from the podium and the Fire Chief stepped up holding a small white flat box which he set on the podium

"Courage, Honour, Valour," the fire chief said. "These are the traits we look for in a hero, and these are traits we find in Miss Elizabeth Cooper. And that is why we are awarding her this medal for heroism in helping save the life of Miss Veronica Lodge."

The Fire Chief sat back down as Hiram Lodge then stepped up and picked up the box. He open the lid and pulled out the medal. Betty got the impression that the Fire Chief thought that this was all a bit of a farce, and she couldn't help but agree. The accident had been bad, but it wasn't life threatening; Veronica had ended up being perfectly fine.

"Thanks to you Miss Cooper I still have a daughter today so it is with great pleasure that I award you this medal," Hiram stated.

He handed Betty the medal and shook her hand before stepping back to the podium.

"I'm also pleased to announce that I'm making a donation of $10,000 to the school's athletics program on behalf of Miss Cooper, as well as upgrading every computer in the school to a new LodgeTech 9000 provided by Lodge Corp." Hiram announced.

There was a smattering of applause but a lot of students didn't seem entirely impressed.

"So Miss Cooper do you have a few words to say?" Hiram asked.

He stepped back letting Betty take the podium. She stepped up and looked out at all of her classmates. She felt incredibly uncomfortable with all of their eyes on her. She took a breath to try and collect herself before she said anything.

However before she could the middle set of doors at the back of the auditorium were flung open. In walked a seemingly small scrawny boy who looked somewhat familiar to Betty.

"Not so fast," he said.

Betty's eyes went wide as she recognized his voice. It was Ambrose Pipp, a boy she had gone to elementary school with who disappeared when he was twelve. Nobody knew what had happened to him and many people thought he had been killed. However that obviously wasn't the case as he stood before them now.

As Betty watched Ambrose raised his hands in the air and suddenly electricity began arcing from every single light in the auditorium towards him. Soon the lights began exploding in a shower of sparks, starting with those closest to him. As they did Betty watched as Ambrose grew bigger and more muscular. When all the lights had exploded it was quite dark in the auditorium but Betty could still clearly see Ambrose' silhouette he was now absolutely enormous, bigger than Moose or Victor for sure.

"That's not a hero up on the stage," Ambrose said his voice having dropped several octaves.

He turned around and grabbed the door with one hand and ripped it off its hinges seemingly effortlessly.

"If you want a hero well I can be one," Ambrose said; then he smashed the door over his knee splinters flying everywhere. "Or I can be the villain."

Betty looked around, she could make out the worried faces of her classmates and teachers. None of them knew what was going on. Betty didn't know either, the one thing she did know though was that it was going to be up to her to stop Ambrose.

* * *

 _How will Betty stop Ambrose? Will she be able to do so without exposing her identity? And what are Veronica and her father up to? Some of the questions will be answered in the next chapter. Please review._


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

The hulking form of Ambrose took a couple steps further into the auditorium.

"So here's how things are going to work," Ambrose said. "You're going to send the people I ask for forward, and maybe nobody else will get hurt."

However before he could request anything from the school a massive panic ensued and everyone began running for the nearest exit. Ambrose stood there looking a little confused as several students ran past him. Betty took advantage of the panic to hop off of the stage and disappear into the surge of students running for the exits.

Once Betty was certain nobody was looking at her she ran at super human speed towards Ambrose. She picked him up over one shoulder and carried him right out of the school and then tossed him watching as he went sailing over the nearby houses before dashing back into the school and hiding in the crowd once more.

"Wait… where did he go?" Betty somebody ask.

"Everybody please exit the school in the quiet and timely manner!" Principal Weatherbee ordered.

Surprisingly the students listened to him and about a minute later everyone was out on the school's front grass.

"What was that?" one girl said.

"I think that was Ambrose Pipp," a boy stated.

All around Betty could hear other people having similar conversations. Nobody seemed to know where Ambrose had come from, and they certainly didn't know what had happened or how he had grown so large and strong and turned off the lights.

Betty made her way through the throng of students till she found Jughead and Sheila. Jughead looked visibly nervous.

"Oh god that was Ambrose," Jughead said when he saw Betty.

"Yeah so?" Betty asked not getting why Jughead was so worried.

"I used to pick on him," Jughead said. "Nothing serious, I'd steal his dessert from his lunch or pull his hat down over his eyes so he would walk into things. But one time not long before he disappeared he felt he'd had enough and he came at me. You guys know I'm not much of a fighter, I've never been particularly big, and I just brushed his attacks off. But he was relentless so I eventually clocked him, BAM! Right between the eyes on the bridge of his nose. He fell to the ground in tears and I was so frightened of what might happen if an adult came by I just took off running. I never got to talk to him or apologize because two days later he disappeared."

"I had no idea," Sheila said.

"Me neither," Betty added.

"I don't know for certain but I think that Ambrose might be looking for a little payback," Jughead said. "I was certain that I was going to be one of those names."

"That's a scary thought," Sheila said sounding quite frightened.

"What do you guys think happened to him?" Betty asked.

"If I may," somebody said behind them.

They all turned around to see Dilton standing there. He pushed his glasses up his nose with his finger before continuing.

"Now I'm not entirely sure how it is possible, but it was quite clear that Ambrose was using electricity to somehow stimulate muscular growth," Dilton said.

"So you're saying he could get even bigger?" Sheila asked getting even more frightened by the minute.

Dilton shrugged.

"I would think that there's got to be some sort of limitations," Dilton replied. "I mean there's obviously got to be a limit on how big he can grow, on how much power he can absorb at once and there's the possibility that over time that whatever it is that powers him, that makes him grow starts to dissipate and he would shrink back down to the normal size. My presumption is that he absorbs and stores electricity kind of like a battery."

"So just out of curiosity, how do you think he can be stopped?" Betty asked.

Betty was hoping Dilton had a solution because other than beating Ambrose to death she didn't have an idea, and that's not something she wanted to do.

"I mean besides somehow killing him, and who knows what that would take, but perhaps overloading his system," Dilton said. "Giving him more electricity than he can handle could probably shock his system and knock him out, possibly put him in a coma."

Betty nodded in understanding. That was useful to know; she wasn't entirely sure how she would do such a thing yet, but now she had at least the outlines of a plan. The other thing was that she had to find Ambrose again, preferably before he attacked anybody.

"Attention students!" Weatherbee announced loudly from the steps of the school.

Everyone turned to face the school.

"For your safety we are sending you all home," Weatherbee announced. "However you will be sent home in groups of at least three, based on who lives near you. I don't care if you're friends or not, you will stick together for safety. I want you all to form groups and a teacher will let you leave once we've got everyone in your area."

"Well good thing we live near each other," Sheila commented to Betty and Jughead.

"Don't forget me," Dilton said.

Dilton lived just a few houses down from Jughead in the opposite direction from Betty's house.

Sheila waved down Miss Grundy who consulted a list and once she was satisfied that the four of them all lived near each other she sent them on their way.

Hiram and Veronica Lodge were standing just outside their limousine, watching as Betty left with her friends.

"That boy in there, Ambrose Pipp I believe the students said his name was, that was your doing father?" Veronica asked Hiram quietly as they got into the limo in case anybody was listening.

"Well you suspected that there was something unusual about that Cooper girl and I wanted to find out for myself," Hiram replied.

"And such an open display didn't concern you?" Veronica inquired indignantly. "I would think somebody with abilities like that would be rather easy to trace. And where did he even get such abilities?"

"There's nothing to trace the Pipp boy back to me," Hiram responded confidently. "Besides, now I believe you about the Cooper girl. I mean it had to be her that made him vanish."

"I didn't see anything," Veronica said. "Because your little display knocked out the lights."

"It's just a matter of time," Hiram said to his daughter. "Once we know what she can do we can bring her in to test her abilities and find out how she got them."

"Yeah and how do you plan to do that?" Veronica asked.

"You let me worry about that," Hiram answered.

He tapped on the divider to the driver.

"Take us home," he ordered through the divider.

* * *

On the walk home Betty, Jughead, Sheila and Dilton tried to talk about anything other than Ambrose and what had happened at school in an effort to distract themselves from the danger he presented. It didn't work however as the conversation kept steering back in that direction. They reached Sheila's house first and the other three all walked her up to the door.

Betty's house was next but she didn't turn to go in.

"Let's walk Dilton home first," Betty said. "You and I live closest to each other Jughead, it just makes sense to minimize the time we're not in a group."

"Fair enough," Jughead agreed.

"Is this just because I'm the smallest?" Dilton asked.

"No, but I do want to make sure you're safe Dilton," Betty replied.

Dilton felt he was being treated a little bit like a child, but he said nothing because at the same time he liked that they were looking out for him.

They walked all the way to Dilton's house and made sure he was safe inside before turning around and heading home. Nobody was home at Jughead's house, his father was at work while his mother Gladys was out at parent-child pre-school with his younger sister Jellybean. Betty walked with him up to the front door.

"Do you want me to come in?" Betty asked. "I mean Ambrose does know where you live."

"You're right I do," came a voice behind them.

They both turned around to see Ambrose standing there. The shirt he was wearing was ripped, possibly from the growth of his muscles. He wasn't quite as big as he had been at the school which made Betty think that Dilton's theory that the growth slowly dissipated as he used whatever electricity he had absorbed was true. However he was still well over six and a half feet tall.

Betty immediately stepped towards Ambrose.

"You leave Juggie alone," Betty said as she crossed her arms in front of her test.

"Oh stay out of this," Ambrose said. "This is between me and him. We both know you're not a hero."

"You want him you have to go through me," Betty said as she stood right in front of him.

"Betty what are you doing get away from him!" Jughead exclaimed frightened for his friend.

"You should listen to him," Ambrose agreed with a smirk.

"No," Betty stated firmly.

"If you think I won't hit you because you're a girl you're dead wrong," Ambrose said.

He cocked back his fist and swung it striking Betty square in the gut. She went flying through the air and smashed through the wall of the second floor of Jughead's house.

"Betty!" Jughead exclaimed looking at the hole she had gone through.

"Huh, I thought she would have gone splat instead of crash," Ambrose commented looking at his handing work before turning towards Jughead. "Oh well maybe you'll be different."

He took a step towards Jughead who crouched down covering his head with his hands in fear.

"Please no, I'm sorry!" Jughead whimpered.

"You hit hard," Betty said.

Jughead looked up to see Betty standing in the hole in his house. She jumped down to the ground landing in between Jughead and Ambrose.

"I hit harder," Betty stated angrily.

She reared back and nailed Ambrose with a powerful punch that sent him sailing over the houses across the street. She then turned around to Jughead.

"Let's get out of here," Betty said.

Before Jughead could say anything she picked him up and hoisted him onto her shoulder. The next thing Jughead knew they were on a farm somewhere. Jughead took a few moments to compose himself as he paced in a circle.

"What the hell was that Betty?" Jughead asked.

"Don't be freaked out," Betty begged him.

"Freaked out? My best friend just punched a missing kid that recently returned with the ability to roid himself up with electricity over a block away after getting punched through the wall of my own house. Why would I be freaked out?" Jughead asked sarcastically.

"I'll admit that's a good reason to be freaked out," Betty admitted. "But try looking at it like this, your best friend just saved your life."

Jughead took a few deep breaths to calm himself down.

"Alright thank you for saving my life, but can I ask a few questions?" he asked.

"Of course," Betty replied.

"Okay how did you do that?" Jughead inquired. "I mean when did you get so strong?"

"I've always been this strong," Betty replied. "Well, I've always been abnormally strong. I'm stronger now than when I was three, obviously."

"Okay, and here another question, and perhaps I should have led with this one; where are we and how did we get here?" Jughead asked.

"This is my Grandpa Munroe's farm," Betty replied. "I carried you here."

"I get that I don't weigh anything to you probably, but did I pass out or something?" Jughead inquired.

"No, not only am I strong, I'm also incredibly fast," Betty answered.

"So you're the reason that Ambrose disappeared from the auditorium," Jughead said.

"Yes, but I didn't want anyone to know," Betty tried to explain. "I mean it's complicated. If certain people knew what I could do…. I just want to live a normal life Jughead."

Jughead considered for moment, he had known Betty for as long as he could remember. They had shared their hopes and dreams with each other. Betty had talked about wanting to be a novelist or a reporter, while he had talked about being a chef or having his own restaurant. They were the simple dreams of simple people. When he had been talking with her Jughead had not gotten the impression that Betty had been lying about her dream; but apparently she had lied about her powers for her entire life. So he wasn't sure what he could believe.

"I don't know if I can believe you," Jughead said.

"You know I want to be a writer of some sort," Betty said. "But if the world knows what I can do they won't care at all what I write, they'll just want to know what I can do. And then there's what people might do to my family to get to me."

Jughead nodded in agreement.

"You right," he said. "So where do your powers come from?"

"That would take far too long to explain, but when this is over I promise I'll tell you," Betty replied. "We need to think about stopping Ambrose first."

"And just how are we going to do that?" Jughead asked.

"Well I think Dilton's theory was right. There's got to be a limit on how much power he can absorb and over time it starts to fade away. You saw that he was a bit smaller when he showed up at your house right?" Betty replied.

"So do you have a plan?" Jughead inquired.

"I do but I'm going to need your help," Betty said. "I need you to be bait."

Jughead gulped slightly frightened but then nodded.

"Alright, I'm in," he said.

* * *

 _Now Jughead knows Betty's secret, but will her plan to stop Ambrose Pipp work? Find out in the next chapter. Please Review_


	8. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

* * *

Ambrose picked himself out of the remains of the minivan he'd landed on. The vehicle had been almost completely destroyed when he'd crashed into it. Healing himself had drained almost all of his power and he had shrunk back down to his normal size.

Ambrose realized that he'd been a bit over confident and he'd been caught off guard by Betty. He should have realized something was different when she had smashed through that wall instead of splattering against it. He wondered where she'd gotten her strength from, and why she didn't grow like he did; whatever the case he wasn't going to underestimate her a second time.

Before he did anything though Ambrose knew he needed to recharge. In his fall he had crashed through the power line running to the house, the live wire was lying on the lawn, arcing occasionally. He walked over and picked the wire up and jabbed it into his bare chest.

Ambrose laughed as he felt the rush of power surge into his body. His body practically exploded outwards as his muscles grew to enormous sizes. He could feel himself grow stronger than ever before. Then a transformer on the pole exploded and the surge of electricity stopped. Ambrose could sense that the power grid had shut down following the surge. It was a bit disappointing but he'd gotten more than enough power.

He looked down at himself. He was close to nine feet tall now and his shoulders were close to seven feet wide. He had huge biceps that were bigger around than standard trash cans and even larger thighs. He picked up one of the side mirrors from the broken van that was still mostly intact. His huge hands engulfed it and he looked at his reflection. His head was practically engulfed by the bulging muscles of his neck with traps that rode all the way up the back of his shaved head. Ambrose smiled as he stared at himself.

He then crushed the mirror in his hand, the broken glass not even penetrating his skin, which meant he didn't have to use energy to heal himself. As he dropped the mirror he thought about how this was going to be fun.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Jughead asked. "I mean what if Dilton is wrong?"

He and Betty were at an electrical substation near the edge of town.

"That's a risk I'm willing to take," Betty replied. "Trust me, I'm a lot stronger than I look."

"How strong are you?" Jughead asked.

"I don't know," Betty replied. "I've never really tested myself. Don't want to risk exposure."

"How do you know he'll even fall for this plan?" Jughead asked.

"I don't," Betty answered. "There's a lot of things that could go wrong here."

"Then why are we doing this?" Jughead asked nervously.

"Because who else do you think is going to stop him?" Betty asked. "Ambrose is going to hurt a lot of people. This is the right thing to do. Besides I won't let anything happen to you."

Jughead sighed and nodded.

"So let's do this," Betty said.

Jughead sighed and pulled out his cellphone.

* * *

Ambrose arrived at Jughead's house once more. He walked up to the front door and was about to open it when he realized that was pointless. Grinning he just walked into the door and the door as well as the wall around it all to collapsed inwards into the house.

"Anybody home?" Ambrose asked.

He didn't expect a reply but he chuckled when he heard the phone ring. He ignored it and went looking around the house smashing walls with his huge body as he did. He heard the answering machine get the call.

"Mom it's me," came Jughead's voice causing Ambrose to stop his search. "Betty and I have gone to hide near the electrical substation to get away from Ambrose. Don't worry he won't find us we'll be safe. I'm sorry about the damage to the house."

The phone then hung up and Ambrose smiled to himself. Jughead and Betty were fools to try and hide from him at the electrical substation. He smashed his way out of the house, just walking through the living room wall out step outside; as he did he heard the sound of sirens approaching.

A single police car pulled up to the house and two officers climbed out and drew their weapons.

"S…stop where you are," one officer nervously ordered as he pointed his pistol at Ambrose.

Ambrose was standing next to a solid concrete bird bath on the lawn. With one hand he picked the bird bath, which had to weigh well over 100 lbs., up and with a single hand and threw it at the police car smashing into the windshield.

The frightened officers responded by opening fire at Ambrose. The bullets bounced off of his muscular frame, but Ambrose could feel the sting from them like they were bee stings and he could feel his power gradually lesson to repair whatever small damage they were doing.

"I don't have time for this," Ambrose said.

He crouched down coiling his legs. The paved walkway beneath him cracked from the force he was pushing down with. He then leapt into the air hundreds of feet as the confused and frightened police officers could only watch.

* * *

"Do you think it worked?" Jughead asked as he put his cellphone back in his pocket.

"We'll find out soon," Betty responded.

Almost on cue there was a loud crash nearby and cloud of dust was thrown up in there air. Moments later Ambrose emerged from the dust cloud looking more menacing than ever, chuckling evilly.

"You two are fools to come here," Ambrose said.

"Why, because you get your power from absorbing electricity?" Betty asked.

"Very clever," Ambrose stated with a smirk. "But that also means you're very stupid."

He then paused looking at her.

"Unless… do you get your strength from the same source?" Ambrose asked.

"Wouldn't you like to know," Betty replied with no intention of telling him anything about herself.

"I'll take that as no," Ambrose said. "You caught me off guard with how strong you were, but that won't happen again, with all this power here I'll be unstoppable."

"Well why don't we find out," Betty said.

She advanced towards Ambrose who stood there chuckling. As she neared he swung his arm casually trying to backhand her aside. However Betty caught his arm with just one hand, stopping it and just holding it in front of her.

Ambrose tried to pull his arm back but Betty held on seemingly effortlessly. Ambrose's eyes went wide with surprise, even with how strong he was now Betty was somehow still stronger than him.

"What's wrong?" Betty asked slightly sarcastically. "Not strong enough? Let me give you a boost."

She grabbed Ambrose's arm with both her hands and dug her heels into the ground and began to spin around. Ambrose was helpless to do anything as Betty twirled him around going faster and faster. He began to get dizzy as she spun him like a hammer thrower.

Betty then released Ambrose throwing him right at one of the big transformers of the electrical substation. Ambrose slammed into it as there was a shower of sparks. Electricity began arcing across his body as he began to grow even bigger.

"You fool," Ambrose said as he got to his feet.

Betty was worried, perhaps Dilton's hypothesis had been wrong.

Ambrose quickly grew to nearly twelve feet tall in a matter of second. However all of a sudden his growth stopped. A worried look cross his face and he let out a high pitched squeak before toppling face first to the ground and lay still.

Betty and Jughead both watched a little surprised as Ambrose slowly shrank all the way down to normal size. Betty then went over to Ambrose and cautiously rolled him over onto his back. He didn't move but seemed to be breathing.

"He's out cold," Betty said, then she exclaimed with joy, "It worked!"

"I was worried for a second there," Jughead said rather relieved. "I thought for a moment there you'd made him almost unstoppable."

"Me too," Betty admitted. "But you have to admit we did pretty good. We stopped Ambrose and nobody got hurt."

"Well I think we did just black out the whole town," Jughead -said looking at the smoking burnt out hull of the destroyed transformer.

"Yeah… let's get out of here before anybody shows up," Betty suggested a little guiltily.

* * *

Hiram Lodge looked down at the unconscious body of Ambrose Pipp as he was loaded into an insulated armoured truck. It hadn't taken him long to figure out what had happened, that Ambrose had overloaded himself by trying to absorb too much electricity at once. Fortunately he owned Riverdale's power company and when they had found the boy the first call that had been made was to him rather than the authorities.

"This is messy father," Veronica said.

"It's simply a test," Hiram retorted. "Now we know that it's difficult to match her strength. But perhaps we can bring in Ms. Cooper through some other means."

"And what about the damage that your test subject there caused?" Veronica asked.

"I'll pay for it," Hiram said. "It will all be worth it."

Veronica watched as the doors to the armoured truck were closed and they drove off.

"Where are they taking him?" Veronica asked.

"To the same place where I made him," Hiram replied. "Or I guessed had him made would be more accurate, Belle Reeve."

Veronica frowned, she knew off all of her family's holdings. Or at least she thought she did, but she hadn't heard of Belle Reeve before.

"Belle Reeve?" she asked.

"Yes, it's off the books," Hiram replied. "That's why you don't know about."

"What is it?" Veronica asked.

"Well why don't I show you dear daughter?" Hiram suggested.

* * *

"Alright you said you would explain where your powers come from," Jughead said. "So why are we back at your grandfather's farm?"

He and Betty were standing in the old barn back on her Grandpa Munroe's farm.

"The answer is under that tarp there," Betty said pointing at the tarp covered ship. "Go take a look under it."

Jughead frowned in confusion but did as she suggested and walked over to the tarp and pulled it off. Betty stayed where she was standing just inside the entrance to the barn not wanting to get the near the ship. It was lying slightly crooked on the ground with no sign that it was active. Jughead looked at it ever more confused.

"What is this?" he asked.

"It's a spaceship," Betty answered. "It's what brought me to Earth."

"Okay if you didn't want to tell me you could have just said so," Jughead said.

"No, I'm serious Jughead," Betty said. "I'm not from Earth."

Jughead stared at her and then at the ship and then looked back at Betty.

"Why are you staying over there?" Jughead asked.

"The ship and I don't exactly get along," Betty replied. "It kind of attacked me yesterday."

"But it's your ship? Why would it do that?" Jughead asked confused.

"Because I rejected it wanting to take me away to teach me about where I'm from," Betty replied.

Jughead was even more confused than ever.

"Look I know this is a lot to take in," Betty said. "I mean I only found out that I was an alien yesterday."

"Wait… you only learned that yesterday?" Jughead asked in disbelief.

"My parents never told me when I was growing up, probably because they didn't want me to feel any different than I already was." Betty explained.

"But they knew?" Jughead asked.

"The day of the meteor shower was the day I arrived on Earth," Betty replied. "My ship crashed into our house before landing in the backyard. My mom lost the baby she was carrying, but when they found me they pretended that I was that baby, and that's what I thought up until yesterday."

"That's heavy stuff," Jughead commented.

"Look, I'm glad that you know now," Betty said. "It's been hard on me to keep what I can do secret from you. But there was a reason for it; there are people that would come for me not all for good reasons. And they might try to hurt the people I care about like my friends and family."

"And outside of your family nobody else knows?" Jughead asked.

"Just my mom, dad, Chic and Polly. Grandpa Munroe might know but his Alzheimer's is so bad at this point, who knows." Betty replied.

"I'm not going to lie, it's going to be hard keeping this secret from Sheila," Jughead said.

"You have to," Betty said. "Or I'll make sure you never eat a hamburger ever again."

Jughead's eyes went wide with shock. There was nothing he liked more than eating hamburgers.

"You can do that?" he asked worriedly.

"If you keep my secret you'll never have to find out," Betty replied.

"Okay," Jughead agreed.

* * *

 _Now Jughead knows everything about Betty and she was able to stop Ambrose Pipp. But obvious the Lodge's aren't done with whatever they have planned. Find out just what Belle Reeve is in this story and if anybody else learns about Betty in the next chapter. Please review_


	9. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

* * *

"So that hole was caused by you?" Polly asked her sister.

She was standing across the street from Jughead's house along with Betty and Jughead as the three of them watch a crew of repairmen going over the damage Ambrose had done to the Jones' house.

"Yep, I'll admit I was little caught off guard when he punched me," Betty answered.

"Really? Because he kind of announced that he was going to hit you," Jughead mentioned.

"I didn't think he was going to go through with it," Betty protested.

"Did it hurt?" Polly asked.

"Not really," Betty replied.

"Do you even know what pain is?" Jughead asked. "Because I think getting punched through a wall would qualify as something that hurts."

"I know what pain is," Betty answered slightly indignantly. "I might not experience pain from injuries, since I can't be injured. But that doesn't mean I don't know what pain is."

"Yeah, you should see her when she's near shard of the green meteor rocks," Polly stated. "She gets weak and uncoordinated and touching them, that causes her pain."

"Yeah like a burning sensation that just courses right through me," Betty added.

"Oh… wait a minute!" Jughead exclaimed. "Is that why you're such a klutz whenever you get near Archie? Because of that meteorite pendant he always wears?"

Betty nodded sheepishly.

"Well this is good," Jughead said.

"Good? How is this a good thing?" Betty asked.

"Because I can help now," Jughead said. "You might not be able to go near him, but I can. And I can take that pendant of his."

"Ah, and I thought that you two were going to end up together," Polly said putting her arms around the two of them.

"Oh come on Polly," Betty complained pushed Polly's arm off of her.

"Yeah, that's just wrong," Jughead agreed.

"Oh come on you two have been friends almost your whole lives," Polly said.

"Yeah, **FRIENDS** ," Betty stressed. "No offense Jughead, but there's no romantic feelings on my side."

"None taken Betty," Jughead responded with a shrugged. "I've got no romantic feelings for you either."

"Or any girl really," Betty added with a smirk.

Jughead nodded in agreement.

"See I don't believe that," Polly said.

"You should see him at school," Betty said. "There's this trio of girls, Mina, Nina and Tina they all have a crush on him and he totally stonewalls their advances."

"Are they ugly or something?" Polly asked.

"Oh no they're definitely attractive," Betty answered. "Here look."

She pulled out her phone and pulled up a picture of the three of them.

"Oh, oh they are good looking," Polly said.

Betty turned the phone to Jughead who just shrugged nonchalantly. Then his stomach rumbled.

"Man I'm hungry. You guys want to head over to Pop's and maybe get something to eat?" Jughead suggested.

"Ah, I think I see now, Jughead's heart is overridden by his stomach," Polly commented. "Well one day Jughead a girl will win you over, very likely with her cooking."

"Maybe," Jughead admitted. "Just don't go telling them that."

"I think Pops already has a hold on him," Betty said with a laugh.

The three of them began walking down the street heading to Pop's. The local diner lay between their houses and the highschool and was a popular hangout for student. Back when Polly had gone to Riverdale High it had been known as the Chock'lit Shoppe. However the owner Terry Tate, had won a descent sum in the state lottery and had used the money to do some major renovations to the more than 60 year old diner and he'd reopened it with a new name, Pop's, after what all the students called him, Pop.

"So what did you guys do with Ambrose after you stopped him?" Polly asked.

"We called in an anonymous call from a pay phone that something was happening at the substation," Jughead answered.

"But you weren't there?" Polly asked.

"Well, I don't think trying to explain that I had just thrown Ambrose after he'd grown into a nine foot giant into a transformer with enough force to damage it was a good idea." Betty replied.

Jughead nodded in agreement.

"Fair enough," Polly said. "But I haven't heard anything about him being taken into police custody."

"Well they might be trying to keep that under wraps," Jughead said. "I can see the military being rather interested in somebody with Ambrose's powers."

"That's actually a scary thought…" Betty said. "Maybe we should have stayed behind."

"Look you can't worry about it now," Polly said. "Just be glad that it's over."

They arrived at the diner and went inside and sat down in one of the booths, Betty and Jughead on one side, Polly on the other. Maria Rodriguez, a pretty Hispanic girl in the same grade as Betty and Jughead came over with three menus. She was wearing a turquoise coloured dress with a white apron that served at the Diner's uniform.

"No need," Jughead said waving her off. "I know what I'm getting."

"Oh, uh do you two want menus?" Maria asked Betty and Polly.

"Yes please," Betty said taking a menu.

Polly took one as well and the two sisters looked them over, while Maria left to give them some time to look them over. It was fairly loud in the diner as Pop had 50's and 60's rock and roll playing all the time.

"So what was it like growing up knowing about Betty's powers Polly?" Jughead asked.

"I mean it was a little weird, but she was my sister," Polly said.

"Was? I'm not dead Polly," Betty protested.

"Sorry, sorry, just the whole learning you're actually an alien and all," Polly apologized.

"That is weird," Jughead agreed. "Anyway you were saying?"

"Well I knew that she was different, not like other kids or the rest of us." Polly said. "It led to some hilarious situations."

"Oh? Like what?" Jughead asked excited and curious.

"Well do you remember that Volvo station wagon we used to have?" Polly asked.

"Oh no," Betty groaned.

"Oh yeah the one with the seat in the back that faced backward," Jughead said. "I remember Betty and I used to love sitting in it when your mom drove us to swimming lessons. What happened to it?"

"Betty happened," Polly replied.

"Polly…" Betty complained.

Polly brushed off Betty's protests with a somewhat flippant wave of her hand.

"We were on a summer vacation, we'd driven all the way down to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon and we were on our way back," Polly regaled Jughead. "We were passing through Tennessee when we got a flat tire, probably because Dad was driving a little fast because Chic had gotten diarrhea from eating some bad fish in Louisiana the night before."

"That's a meandering route," Jughead commented.

"Well we'd gone to Houston to see the NASA space center and stayed the night in New Orleans, figured we should see the country," Polly explained. "Anyway back onto the story. So Chic had a very bad case of the runs and we were trying to get to the next rest stop when BOOM! Flat tire, the front passenger tire just went down."

"Oh I think I know where this is going," Jughead said chuckling as he looked at Betty who had her face buried in her hands with embarrassment.

"Now Betty was not quite 8 at the time," Polly said. "So she still looked up to Chic and she didn't want to him to shit his pants."

"I also have a more sensitive sense of smell," Betty added.

"Sure but really nobody wanted to smell that," Polly said. "So anyway Betty wants to help change the tire so we can get going. So dad gets the tire out and Betty grabs a hold of the front bumper and before my dad can stop her lifts up."

Jughead struggled to contain his laughter, "Let me guess, she tore the front bumper off?" he asked.

Polly nodded as she laughed herself.

"It screeched so loud, we were lucky there were no other cars on that stretch of the highway because that would have been something to explain," Polly said.

"Look, I was still seven," Betty protested. "I didn't realize you have to lift the car by the chassis."

"It's still funny," Jughead said chuckling.

"Oh it gets better," Polly continued. "So she bends the bumper back, not perfect but enough that the car at least doesn't look like it's been in an accident. And then after dad tells her to lift by the frame she does that with one hand and with the other she starts to take the nuts off the wheel, because she can do it faster than my dad could with the tire iron."

Jughead frowned not sure where this part was going.

"Problem is she took them off too fast," Polly said. "Stripped the threading right off of the bolts and the nuts. We couldn't put the spare tire back on. We ended up having to call a tow truck. The driver was confused as to how we'd even been driving with such stripped bolts."

Jughead started laughing.

"Oh my gosh, that is amazing," he said slapping the table.

"I think I made a mistake saving your life," Betty groaned as she looked up at the ceiling.

Just then Maria came back to take their order.

"Have you had enough time to look over the menu?" she asked.

"Well it's the usual burger for me," Jughead said.

"I'll have the fish and chips," Polly decided.

"And I'll have the turkey club," Betty chose.

"And anything to drink?" Maria asked.

"Root Beer floats all around," Polly said. "It'll be my treat to you two."

Maria nodded and left to place their order.

"I still wonder where Ambrose is…" Betty wondered softly.

* * *

 _Belle Reeve, 30 miles west of Riverdale_

Veronica looked out the limousine window as it pulled up to what looked like a large country estate. They had passed through some large gates and drove at least a quarter mile up the driveway just to reach the building. It was a C- shaped building that was three stories tall with a roundabout driveway with a fountain in the middle.

"This is Belle Reeve?" Veronica asked a little confused.

"Don't let the appearances deceive you," her father Hiram said. "Belle Reeve houses some rather dangerous individuals, Mr. Pipp was just one of them."

Veronica could see the armoured truck that Ambrose Pipp had been loaded into stopped nearby. The back opened up and she saw Ambrose lying on a gurney.

"Come let me show you where they're taking Mr. Pipp," Hiram said.

He got out and led Veronica over to the side entrance where the two attendants from the truck were wheeling the unconscious Ambrose. Veronica took a glance at the IV bag that was currently hooked up to him and noticed that they were pumping him with sedatives. It made sense they didn't want to risk him escaping.

The side entrance went almost directly into an elevator and she and her father boarded with along with the attendants and Ambrose. However rather than go up as Veronica expected the elevator began to descend and it went far further than she expected.

When it opened they were in a long and wide corridor. There were large heavy doors on either side of the corridor always two opposite each other and space equally apart. It reminded Veronica of a prison.

The attendants wheeled Ambrose down the corridor until they arrived at specific door. One of them buzzed into a radio panel near the door and it opened remotely. They wheeled Ambrose into what was a room with rubber padding on the walls, the ceiling and the floor. There was a wood framed bed with a thin foam mattress. They lifted Ambrose off the gurney and put him on the bed and removed the IV before quickly exiting the room.

"What is this?" Veronica asked.

"This room was designed specifically to contain Mr. Pipp," Hiram replied.

"So you knew about him before today?" Veronica asked.

"Of course, he was given his powers here," Hiram answered.

"What do you mean given his powers?" Veronica inquired suspiciously.

"Come with me," Hiram said.

He led the way back to the elevator and Veronica followed him. She still wasn't sure what was going on but she had her suspicions. The elevator went up this time but Veronica could tell that they were still underground.

This time the door opened to reveal yet another corridor, however this one was lined with glass walls. On each side were some of the most extensive scientific labs that she had ever seen.

"You were only four years old when the meteor shower that began our family's good fortune hit Riverdale but you recall that I managed to secure the sole clean up contract," Hiram said as he walked down the corridor with Veronica following him.

"Yes, what of it?" Veronica asked.

"Well I made a rather low bid, the reason being was I was able to secure all of the meteorites that had hit the town, it was worth more than what the clean-up contract would have earned us." Hiram replied.

"The meteorites?" Veronica inquired more confused than ever.

"At first I thought that they were emeralds or something," Hiram said. "But tests on them soon showed they weren't, in fact their composition was nothing we had seen before. They showed properties we didn't even know existed; but perhaps the most interesting fact, they showed that they were capable of mutating a person's DNA."

He stopped at a particular spot and Veronica saw a teenage boy strapped to a table. Scientists dressed in clean suits surrounded him their identities concealed. There were tubes connected to him were pumping in some sort of green liquid. The boy seemed to be screaming in agony.

"What are they doing to him?" Veronica asked.

She was a little concerned, not so much for the boy's well-being. But rather for the potential lawsuit that could result if this was some kind of unsanctioned torture.

"They're pumping liquefied meteor rock into him," Hiram replied. "It has the strangest properties, it melts at about 600 Kelvin, but it doesn't revert back to a solid until it cools to 300 Kelvin. That alone is extraordinary don't you think."

"It defies the laws of thermodynamics," Veronica remarked. "But why pump him full of meteor rock?"

"To see what kind of mutation it can cause," Hiram said. "With Mr. Pipp we arced electricity through the meteor rocks into his body which is how he gained his powers."

Veronica was fascinated. As a xenobiologist this was exactly what her field of study was centered on.

Just then the boy on the table began seizing as he spasmed uncontrollably. The scientists moved to try and help him but suddenly he lay still. Veronica could see that he was bleeding from his mouth, nose, ears and even his eyes. It was soon quite clear that he had died having suffered massive internal haemorrhaging.

"Unfortunately not all of our experiments work," Hiram commented with mild disappointment. "Of course I'm hoping you can change that."

"What do you mean?" Veronica asked.

"I want to put you in charge of all this," Hiram said. "Hopefully you can use it to capture that Cooper girl, or if not perhaps duplicate whatever happened to her."

Veronica looked around at the facility, already thoughts were forming in her mind about what she could do.

"So do we have a deal?" Hiram asked.

"Oh yes," Veronica replied with a smirk. "I think I'm going to like it here."

* * *

 _A little bit of Betty's history and some insight into what sort of people the Lodge's are. We'll see what Veronica's first move is now that she has control of Belle Reeve soon, and perhaps Jughead will play matchmaker and get Betty and Archie together. Please review._


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

* * *

Betty, Polly and Jughead all headed back to the Cooper household. Hal and Alice had offered to let Jughead stay with them while the Jones' house was being repaired which was probably going to take at least a week. His parents had agreed since the hotel that they were being put up in was further away from the highschool, and this would be easier for Jughead to go to school.

As they were walking up the driveway to the front door Alice came out.

"Where were you three?" she asked.

"We went to Pop's to get something to eat," Polly replied.

"Did you forget about the offer for dinner at the Lodges'?" Alice asked annoyed.

"Yes, but that's because I have no intention of taking them up on that offer," Betty replied.

"And why, that's rather rude?" Alice asked.

"Because I think the Lodge's might be responsible for the incident at the school and whatever happened to Ambrose," Betty answered.

"That's a kind of wild accusation," Polly commented.

"Why would you think that?" Alice inquired.

"Well that whole heroism medal, which I didn't even end up actually getting, but it all seemed like a farce," Betty said. "I mean the Fire Chief sure didn't seem like it was warranted like he was going through the motions."

"That's true, he looked like he wanted to be anywhere but there," Jughead commented.

"Well you did save Veronica's life," Alice said.

"That's debatable," Betty said. "I probably could have just called and let the paramedics and fireman get her out of the car. She wasn't in imminent danger."

"Still why do you think they were responsible?" Polly asked.

"It was something about the interaction I had with them before school in the Principal's office. It was the way they looked at me, it wasn't like they were looking at a person it was like they were analyzing something; like I was an experiment." Betty answered. "It made me feel rather uncomfortable."

"Well why do you think that?" Alice probed.

"I may have ripped the door off of Veronica's car with my bare hands to get her out," Betty said. "And it wasn't something that would have come off from the crash."

"Alright, fine," Alice said slightly disappointed. "Let's all go inside we'll get you settled in Jughead. You can have Betty's room and Betty will sleep in Polly's room."

Polly gave a slight sigh of disappointment of having to share a room again. She and Betty had shared the same bedroom till four years ago when Chic had moved out. Betty had moved into Chic's old room while Polly got their bedroom (which was bigger) to herself.

"Come on Polly, it'll be just like old times," Betty said.

"At least you don't snore," Polly stated trying to be positive.

"Do you want to get your old beds from the basement Betty?" Alice asked.

Betty nodded and in a flash she was gone. As Alice, Polly and Jughead walked up the stairs they felt a breeze blowing first up past them then down and then up again. When they got up the stairs to the bedroom Betty was standing in the door way waiting. Gone was Polly's double bed replace with two twin beds.

"All ready," she announced.

"Okay that was… how are you two used to it?" Jughead asked Polly and Alice.

"Well I pretty much grew up with it," Polly replied. "So it would be weird if she couldn't do that."

"She's been doing stuff like that pretty much since she could walk," Alice added. "So while it's a little weird at first you end up growing used to it."

Betty just grinned proudly, glad that she could show off to her friend finally.

"Wait a minute… My Little Pony Sheets? Oh come on Betty!" Polly exclaimed as she saw what was on the beds. "Where did you even find these?"

"They were in a box down in the basement right beside the bed frames," Betty replied.

"They used to be your favourite sheets Polly," Alice said.

"Yeah, when I was ten," Polly complained. "I'm twenty now."

"Oh get over yourself," Betty said. "It's only for a little while."

"I'm gonna burn them when this is over," Polly muttered.

"Well since you three have already eaten, and we're not going to the Lodge's I'm going to go shopping for your birthday present Betty? Do you have anything in particular that you want?" Alice asked.

"Oh yeah your birthday is this Saturday," Jughead commented. "You know you've never had a birthday party before."

"That's because it's the same day that they always hold the memorial service for the people who were killed in the meteor shower," Betty said. "Just about every family in Riverdale lost somebody that day, so seems a little inappropriate to be having a party on a day when a lot of people are mourning."

"Fair point, my dad's parents were both killed that day," Jughead said. "I never knew them, but I know my dad's always made us go to the memorial service because of them."

"We were lucky," Alice said. "The only casualty in our family was the daughter I was pregnant with who ended up being still born. But we were blessed with Betty just minutes later."

"You know I don't think it's my actual birthday," Betty said. "I mean somehow I don't think I arrived on Earth on the same day I was actually born."

"Well I think we should do something this year," Polly said. "I mean you are turning 16. I'd take you to the DMV to get your license but unfortunately it's closed because it's Saturday."

"Is there anything you want to do?" Jughead asked.

Betty considered the question for a moment.

"Could we go to Six Flags Great Adventure?" Betty suggested.

Both Jughead and Polly got excited by that idea.

"Well I'll have to run it by your father, but I don't see why not," Alice replied. "Besides it might be a good idea to get out of town that day."

Betty, Jughead and Polly all high-fived each other and then ran downstairs.

* * *

Later that evening Jughead, Polly and Betty were down in the basement watching TV when Hal came in.

"Oh hi dad," Betty said. "Did you want to watch the baseball game?"

Hal Cooper was a diehard New York Mets fan.

"Nah, the Mets aren't playing tonight," Hal replied. "I did just talk to your mother though and we're definitely taking you to Six Flags for your birthday."

Betty, Jughead and Polly all celebrated once more.

"Can I bring anybody else?" Betty asked.

"We've got enough room in the van to take two more people," Hal said. "Unfortunately that's it."

"Well Sheila's got to come obviously," Jughead said. "But who else are you going to invite?"

Betty considered for a moment.

"You know what, I think I'll invite Dilton," Betty replied. "I kind of owe him for helping me out the other day."

"Are you sure?" Jughead asked. "Dilton's a nice enough guy but… he's a little strange too."

"Why not invite Archie?" Polly suggested. "You've always had a crush on him."

"I don't know; he always goes to the memorial service, I mean his parents were killed," Betty stated. "And can you guys guarantee that he won't have that pendant of his with him?"

"I could steal it," Jughead said.

"I don't want that," Betty said. "That's a sentimental reminder of his parents. I don't want you taking something important to him away."

"Your loss," Jughead said with a shrug.

"Well whoever you decide let me know," Hal said before he headed back upstairs.

* * *

That night Betty and Polly were in Polly's room, sharing it for the first time in four years. They could hear Jughead next door in Betty's room snoring softly.

"Hey Polly, can I ask you something?" Betty inquired quietly.

"Of course," Polly replied.

"If you were in my position, would you want to learn about where you came from?" Betty asked.

"Well I'm not in your position and I want to know," Polly replied. "So yes."

"But what if it meant you'd have to go away and you didn't know for how long, or even where?" Betty asked.

"I might put it off for a little bit, but there's no way I could stave off my curiosity for long," Polly said. "And if I know you, which after nearly sixteen years I'm pretty sure I do, you're just as curious."

"You're right," Betty said. "I guess I just needed to hear it from you."

"You might not want to tell Dad you're thinking about going with the ship though," Polly said. "He would dismantle that thing before letting you go anywhere with it."

"Well good luck to him with that," Betty said. "I punched it about as hard as I could and it didn't even make a dent. I was trying to destroy it."

"Were you?" Polly asked.

"Yes, at the time I was sure that it was trying to kill Dad," Betty said. "And I'll do whatever I have to when it comes to protecting you guys."

"Well I'm glad to hear that," Polly said.

The two sisters lay there in silence for a while before both of them drifted off to sleep.

* * *

It was approaching midnight, but Veronica Lodge was still at Belle Reeve. She had been there since eight in the morning and after being introduced to the staff as the new director of the facility she had spent close to fourteen hours going over all of the research that had been done and was currently being done at the facility.

One of the first things she had done was suspend the human testing. Not because of the loss of life, but rather the inefficiency. Obtaining test subjects was very difficult to do without attracting attention and with the high percentage that died (which was almost 80%) the number they needed to obtain was high. Instead she wanted testing being done on animals and if that gave positive results then they could move onto human testing.

Fortunately there had been quite a bit of animal testing going on as well. Veronica had gone over the various experiments sorting through which ones showed promise and which ones didn't.

There were a few interesting ones; one involved cheetahs which seemed to make them even faster than their already impressive speed. There was another being done with wasps which seemed to increase the control that a queen had over the hive which made them more aggressive, it also showed that she could take control of the drones from other hives and make them turn on their queen.

But the experiment that she found showed the most interesting promise was the one where meteor rock was ground up and mixed with standard fertilizer and used on plants. There were tests being done with all sorts of plants, some plants grew far larger than normal, some changed colour and others look no different; but all the plants showed some sort of mutation to their DNA when looked at under an microscope.

Veronica was reading a report about modified corn at the moment. About one ten kernels on the cob was a bright green colour while the other nine were a normal yellow. However all the kernels showed the same modification to the plants DNA.

Veronica pulled up an image of the corn's DNA and looked it over, comparing it to an image of the DNA of an unmodified corn plant. She was biologist so she knew what she was looking at although her focus was more on fauna than flora. From what Veronica could tell the changes to corn did affect anything with the plant itself, however the changes to the plants proteins looked as though they would be passed on to anything that consumed it.

"You're here late," Veronica heard her father say behind her.

Veronica turned around a little startled. She hadn't heard him enter the office.

"Sorry father, there's just so much to catch up on here," Veronica said.

"I know; it's all rather impressive isn't it? I don't entirely understand it all myself. But I'm sure you've got a much better grasp on the science of it than I do," Hiram commented.

Veronica knew that her father was a brilliant man, but his mind was geared almost exclusively towards business and politics. Veronica had a similar mind but with the added bonus of being a brilliant scientist, she knew that one day, probably not too far in the future she would succeed her father and take Lodge Corp from him.

"It's quite fascinating," Veronica said. "But a lot of the work being done here has been sloppy. They keep doing tests when there's not promising leads rather than focusing on those that show promise."

"Well it's been difficult keeping a director in charge," Hiram said. "They've all failed to live up to my expectations."

Veronica wasn't entirely surprised by that; her father had extremely high expectations of anybody that worked under him.

"Who was my predecessor here?" Veronica asked curiously.

"A Dr. Steven Hamilton, I believe," Hiram replied.

Veronica hadn't heard of him before.

"What happened to him?" Veronica inquired.

"The stress of the job got to be too much for him," Hiram replied.

Veronica felt like her father was keeping something from her, but she knew that trying to get it from him was futile. She'd just figure out what happened to her predecessor on her own.

"Come Veronica, you should get home and get some rest," Hiram said. "All of this will still be here when you return tomorrow."

Veronica nodded and straightened up her desk and turned her computer off. She then got up and left the office with her father, pausing in the door to look back. She noticed for the first time a red chunk of crystal that was being kept in a cube that was probably made from Plexiglas or Lexan sitting on a filing cabinet in the corner. She wondered why she hadn't notice it before. She decided to investigate it tomorrow as she followed her father out of Belle Reeve to the waiting limousine.

* * *

 _Not the most exciting chapter I know, but a setup for things to come. The last part was to show how Veronica is not at all like her character from the comics but is far similar to that of Lex Luthor (which is the role she's playing here). Please review._


	11. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10**

* * *

Betty awoke to sunlight streaming through the window into her face. She had forgotten how bright Polly's room got in the morning since it was on the east side of the house, whereas her room was on the north side and didn't get very bright ever.

Betty blinked as she sat up and stretched. She looked across the room to see that Polly had already gotten up and left the room.

"Thank god I wasn't floating again," Betty muttered to herself as she made her bed.

"Sorry what was that about floating?" Polly asked.

Betty turned around to see Polly standing in the door, her blonde hair was a mess and she was wearing an XXL T-shirt that she wore as a nightie.

"Oh, uh, just a weird dream I had the past two nights," Betty said. "I was just sort of floating in mid-air and then I fell and woke up."

"Ah the falling dream, I've had those," Polly said. "It's said that it's your subconscious telling you that you're doing something wrong."

"Hmm, well I didn't have one last night so I must be in the clear now," Betty commented.

"Well that's good," Polly said.

Polly grabbed her towel from behind the door.

"I'm having a shower now," she declared. "So do you need to use the bathroom first?"

"I'm fine for now," Betty replied.

"Okay, just checking," Polly said.

As she left the room Polly pulled her far too large T-shirt off and tossed it in a laundry hamper in the hallway just outside the bathroom. She turned to enter the bathroom and let out an ear piercing scream and dropped her towel. Betty ran out of the room at super speed to find out what had happened.

"What the hell Jughead!" Polly exclaimed covering herself up with her hands.

Jughead was sitting on the toilet, his pants around his ankles reading the newspaper.

"What?" he asked seemingly oblivious to the fact that Polly was naked.

"Don't you lock the door?" Polly asked.

"I thought I had," Jughead replied innocently.

Betty decided to intervene. She picked up Polly's towel and wrapped it around her covering her up.

"Are you almost done?" Betty asked Jughead.

"Yeah almost," Jughead replied.

"Okay, Polly just come wait in the room till Jughead is done," Betty said leading her sister back to the bedroom.

When they were in the room Betty closed the door, she would hear Jughead finish perfectly well with the door closed. Polly tossed her towel onto her bed and sat down. She was completely naked except for her panties.

"I have to say I'm a little insulted. I mean he saw all this and didn't even react." Polly said as she pointed at her boobs.

"Well that's Jughead for you," Betty said. "Doesn't matter to him what kind of breasts you've got, big or small, Jughead couldn't care less."

"But he's not gay?" Polly inquired.

"No, I think the best way to describe him is asexual," Betty answered.

"That's weirder than anything you can do," Polly commented.

Betty nodded in agreement with her sister. Just then she heard the flush of the toilet.

"Okay he's done," Betty said.

Polly picked up her towel and wrapped it around herself as she made her way back to the bathroom. Betty meanwhile went downstairs where her mother was making breakfast. Jughead was sitting at the kitchen table still looking at the newspaper.

"Good morning Betty, what was that commotion upstairs?" Alice asked.

"Polly walked in Jughead while he was the toilet and she was topless," Betty answered.

"I thought the door was locked," Jughead commented.

"That lock can be funny," Alice said. "I should have warned you."

"It's alright," Betty said. "Polly was actually more annoyed by the fact that Jughead didn't react to seeing her naked."

Alice chuckled while Jughead just shrugged.

"Jughead honey, how do you like your eggs?" Alice asked.

"Sunny side up," Jughead replied.

"And Betty?" Alice inquired.

"Uh, I'll have the same as Jughead I guess," Betty answered.

Betty sat down next to Jughead and poured herself a glass of orange juice from the pitcher on the table. A few minutes later Alice brought over two plates of bacon, egg and toast for Betty and Jughead.

"Enjoy you two," Alice said.

"Thanks Mom," Betty said.

"Yeah, thanks Mrs. C," Jughead thanked her.

Betty sat there watching Jughead eat. It always amazed her not only how much, but how quickly he could eat, given that he didn't have any powers.

"What are you doing?" Jughead asked Betty when he was about half done and noticed that she was watching him and not touching her food.

"Giving you a head start," Betty replied.

"No…" Jughead began.

In a flash Betty cleared her plate eating it faster than the blink of an eye.

"…way," Jughead finished.

Betty was sitting there wiping some egg yolk off the corner of her mouth. Jughead sat there staring at her plate in disbelief.

"Why do you not enter eating contests if you can do that?" Jughead asked.

"I can eat fast, but I can't eat more than a normal person," Betty replied.

"That's disappointing, with your speed you'd be a champion eater for sure," Jughead said. "You could break Sonya Thomas' records, probably even do better than Joey Chestnut. But you'd have the popularity of Gal Sone, now that's a woman I respect."

"Competitive eating is disgusting Jughead," Betty stated. "And I have no idea who those people are."

"Well here, look them up on my phone," Jughead said.

"No thanks I…" Betty glanced at the phone. "Wait who's this?"

On Jughead's phone was a picture of Japanese woman who looked like one of those generic Japanese pop stars.

"That's Gal Sone," Jughead replied.

"She's a competitive eater?" Betty asked in disbelief.

Jughead nodded as he went back to eating his breakfast.

"And you're into that?" she queried.

Jughead nodded again.

"That's… well it's weird and gross but it's you so I guess I should expect it," Betty commented.

Jughead shrugged and took his phone back from her.

"I wonder what would happen if I told Mina, Nina and Tina about this?" Betty mused.

Jughead suddenly coughed and a bit of his toast came up and landed on his plate.

"Please don't," he begged.

"I won't," Betty said. "Unless you do something to deserve it."

Jughead finished up and he and Betty went upstairs. Polly was only just coming out of the bathroom and was cursing at her hair straightener.

"Betty do you think you can…" Polly started to ask.

Betty was ahead of her. She had sped to the bathroom and grabbed a comb and was waiting in the bedroom.

"Come on, let's get this over with," Betty said.

Polly sat on her bed while Betty ran the comb through her hair going progressively quicker making sure to get all the tangles out. Betty then rubbed her hands to together rapidly making them about as hot as the hair straightener and then squeezed them on either side of Polly's hair and ran them down the length just as one would use a hair straightener.

"Thanks Betty," Polly said. "I've got an interview for a part time job after class and I won't have time to change so I've got to be ready now."

"Isn't your interview at the mechanic shop?" Betty asked.

"Yes, but as the receptionist," Polly replied. "Do I look like the kind of girl that works on cars?"

"That's a bit of a stereotype that you're playing up to," Betty said.

"Whatever," Polly said dismissively. "Oh I saw you got your cheerleader uniform, let me see how it looks."

Betty had the uniform still in her backpack she hadn't touched it since Cheryl had given it to her yesterday.

"Why were you in my backpack?" Betty asked.

"It's in my room," Polly replied as if that justified it.

Betty decided it wasn't an argument worth having and quickly put the uniform on. It wasn't till she had it on that Betty realized how revealing it was. The top was a low cut and cropped blue tank top with a gold R that showed quite a bit of cleavage as well as Betty's abs. The matching skirt was surprisingly short barely reaching mid-thigh. Lastly were a pair of knee high socks with gold trim.

"Wow… the uniform has changed since I was on the squad," Polly commented.

"This has to be Cheryl's doing," Betty said.

"Well you look good in it," Polly said. "Although that's not really the right shade of blue for you, but oh well it's the school colours."

Betty stripped out of her cheerleading uniform and put on a pair of denim shorts and a red t-shirt.

"Well I should get to school," Betty said. "Good luck with your interview."

Betty headed downstairs where Jughead was waiting. They said good-bye to Alice and then left for school. Along the way the made the usual stop at Sheila's house to meet up with her.

"You know I'm a little jealous," Sheila said as she came down the walkway from her house to join them. "Jughead gets to stay over for a sleepover and I don't."

"Well then it would be you me and Polly all in the same room," Betty said. "That wouldn't be very fun."

"Yeah but tell her the good news," Jughead prompted Betty.

"Oh yeah, my birthday is this Saturday and we're going to Six Flags, and you're invited!" Betty exclaimed.

"Do I? And not have to attend some memorial service for people I never knew? Of course!" Sheila shouted.

Sheila's family wasn't originally from Riverdale, her parents were actually originally from Hong Kong and they had moved to Metropolis shortly after being married. That was where Sheila had been born but when she was seven they had moved here to Riverdale after her father, who was a professor, was offered a senior position at Riverdale University. Her father had recently been promoted to Dean of the Social Sciences department.

"That a little insensitive, but okay!" Betty said excited her friend was coming.

"I take it Jughead is going, who else?" Sheila asked as they started walking to school.

"Well my parents and my sister Polly, and Jughead and you," Betty replied. "And I'm thinking about inviting Dilton."

"Dilton? Why Dilton?" Sheila asked.

"Well he doesn't really have many friends," Betty replied. "And he helped me out the other day pretending to me boyfriend in front of Cheryl. And now she's probably going to be going out of her way to make his life miserable, so feel like I kind of owe him."

"Makes sense I guess," Sheila said. "But I'm guessing that Polly is going to be with us and that makes 5 which is a bit of an uneven number for going on rides."

"We'll make it work," Betty said.

On the way to school they talked about the rides at the amusement park and the games and what they each wanted to do. When they got to school they headed to their lockers, however rather than head to class Betty went a different direction.

"I'm going to try and find Dilton before I get to class," Betty said.

"Alright see you there," Jughead said.

Betty headed off towards the science labs where she knew Dilton's locker was located. As she approached Dilton's locker which was near the end of the hall she heard a commotion and as she got past a group of freshman students that were just standing in a circle blocking the hall she saw Reggie along with Moose and Victor trying to stuff Dilton into his locker.

"Hey!" Betty called out. "Leave him alone."

Reggie let go of Dilton and turned around.

"Sorry babe, I'm just doing as my girl Cheryl asked," Reggie said. "But uh, maybe you can do something to make me change my mind."

"You're disgusting," Betty said. "You can go tell Cheryl that if she has a problem with Dilton then she has a problem with me and if I find you or anyone else trying to stuff Dilton into a locker or something like that again… well Cheryl will find out that I'm not someone to be trifled with."

Reggie just gave a smirk and walked up to her.

"I like this tough girl act," he commented slyly. "Kind of gives you a Ronda Rousey thing."

In a second Betty grabbed Reggie by his shirt slammed him against the nearest lockers and had her forearm to his throat.

"Yeah, and like Ronda Rousey I could kick your ass," Betty threatened.

"Alright, alright," Reggie said putting his hands up. "I don't want to fight a girl."

Betty slowly let him go and Reggie then nodded at Moose and Victor and the three of them headed off to class. Betty went over and helped Dilton pick up his things which had fallen to the ground.

"Thank you Betty," Dilton said.

"Well I feel I owe you for helping me out the other day," Betty responded. "And I was actually looking for you. Do you want to come to Six Flags this weekend? It would be my family, you, Dilton and Sheila."

Dilton was a little caught off guard.

"You're inviting me?" he asked surprised.

"Nobody has ever invited me to anything before," Dilton said.

"Well I've never had a birthday party before," Betty replied. "It always falls on the Meteor Shower Memorial Service."

"Well yes, yes I'll come," Dilton said. "Oh this'll be great!"

"Awesome, hey why don't you come sit with the three of us in the cafeteria at lunch today?" Betty suggested.

Dilton nodded.

"Okay I'll see you then," Betty said. "I've got to get to class. Grundy is a stickler for punctuality."

Betty hurried off and made it to class with just seconds to spare.

* * *

Veronica was sitting in her office in Belle Reeve. The red crystal was sitting on her desk and she was staring at it pondering.

She had gone over every experiment that had been done at Belle Reeve since it had opened but nothing showed signs of the supposed invulnerability that the Cooper girl seemed to have. And just about all increases in strength came with either some kind of disfigurement or muscular hypertrophy which wasn't the case with her.

She wished to speak with Ambrose Pipp about what had happened to him, but he remained unconscious. The scientists weren't sure if he was in a coma caused by his abilities or just from whatever had happened to him. Signs at the scene had suggested he'd overloaded himself absorbing too much electricity at once.

Veronica suspected that if that were the case he'd likely suffered damage at a cellular level and to make him up would require fixing that; something she sure was possible. And even if it could be done there was still the possibility that his memories had been lost; memory problems were quite common with people who had been in comas.

However Veronica was developing a new theory. The vast majority of the meteor rock they had found was green and looked quite a bit like emeralds. However she had learned the red crystal she had on her desk was a shard of very rare red meteor rock. Given the unusual properties of the green meteor rocks it wasn't at all hard to believe that the red one also had unusual properties and that they could be quite different. Veronica wondered if perhaps Betty Cooper had gotten her abilities from this red rock.

There was still no way to no and the amount she had was so small that she could do at most five experiments on mice or rats and all of them could end up abject failures; so unfortunately she was going to have to wait until she had more information.

She picked up her tablet and pulled up her file on Betty Cooper once more. Her eyes went wide as she saw the date of birth at the top of the file. Her birthday was this Saturday and she was turning sixteen. Veronica smiled to herself as she picked up the phone.

* * *

 _First off apologies to anybody who felt this chapter felt like filler, it kind of did to me too but I was just trying to establish characters as well set up the next major event (hint it's going to be at an amusement park). And there are things in this chapter that may see insignificant but will actually matter down the road. And just what is Veronica up to? Is she going to ruin Betty's birthday? Please review!_


	12. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11**

* * *

Saturday morning arrived. Betty woke up to Polly sitting on her bed grinning down at her.

"Happy Birthday little sister," Polly said.

"Good morning," Betty responded.

"You excited to go to Six Flags?" Polly asked.

"You know it," Betty replied.

"Well come on, Mom's making everyone breakfast," Polly said.

The two sisters went downstairs, Alice was at the stove busy cooking and Jughead and Hal were already sitting at the kitchen table.

"There's the birthday girl," Hal said.

"Happy Birthday," Jughead said between bites of pancakes.

"Yes, Happy Birthday dear, now what do you want for breakfast, your choice it's your day," Alice said. "I've got all your favourites."

Betty glanced at what Jughead was eating and quickly knew what she wanted.

"Pancakes with the cream cheese and custard sauce?" Betty asked.

"With your choice of fruit," Alice added.

"With cherries," Betty said happily.

Alice nodded and turned back to the stove while Betty and Polly sat at the table.

"Here, a birthday gift," Hal said as he put a small and flat wrapped box on the table.

"What is it?" Betty asked as she began opening it.

"It's actually from Grandpa Munroe," Hal said.

Betty was a little confused; she didn't think that Grandpa Munroe could remember what day of the week it was, let alone that it was her birthday. She opened the box and inside found some folded sheets of paper. The first one she looked at said "Deed" at the top of it.

"What is this dad?" Betty asked holding it up.

"That's the deed to your grandfather's farm," Hal replied.

Betty's eyes went wide with surprise. Even Jughead paused eating for a moment to look up.

"What?" Polly exclaimed beside her.

"When we hid your spaceship on the farm way back when you first came here we knew that it was only temporary," Hal explained. "The problem was we couldn't think of anywhere else to put it. Your grandfather built the other barn and let the old one deteriorate around the ship as an additional measure. But then there was the problem of his Alzheimer's. We couldn't decide what to do with the farm, but your grandfather decided that since it was your secret being kept there it should be your decision as to what happens. So about two years ago just before we put him in the home we sat down with a lawyer and he had these paper's drafted up. The farm became yours on your sixteenth birthday, or his death if it came before that."

Betty wiped a tear from her eye. She hadn't seen her grandfather very often since he'd been placed in the assisted living facility. Her mother went and saw him at least three times a week since it was her father, but it was often during the day when Betty was at school, so Betty rarely saw him. She wanted to say thank you to him, even if he didn't know what it was for, or even who she was.

"Do you think I can go with you to see Grandpa Munroe next week?" Betty asked her mom. "I want to say thank you."

Alice nodded, "Yes I think that would be nice."

"I got you something too," Jughead said.

He placed a something that was wrapped up poorly in newspaper and duct tape on the table. Betty looked at it in disbelief.

"Go on, open it," Jughead urged her.

Betty picked it up and easily tore the newspaper off. Inside was a brand new multi-tool, with the price tag still on it, it was actually a rather expensive one.

"I don't get it," Betty said staring at the tool a little confused.

"Well remember the other day when Polly was telling that story about how you wrecked the car on your trip to the Grand Canyon? Well it got me thinking that despite your intentions you probably end up breaking quite a few things. This is to help you fix them." Jughead explained.

"Clever," Polly commented with a laugh.

"And true," Hal added chuckling.

"It's actually a rather thoughtful gift Jughead," Alice stated.

"You know I'd be more annoyed if you weren't right," Betty said. "This actually will be handy Jughead, thank you."

Jughead nodded and went back to eating. Alice brought over Betty's breakfast and Betty licked her lips as she picked up her knife and fork and got ready to dig in.

"Somebody's at the door," Betty said hearing something.

Two seconds later the doorbell rang.

"That's creepy," Jughead commented.

"That one still bothers me too," Alice admitted. "She does it every day when you come over. It's kind of like having a dog."

"I'll get it," Polly said standing up.

Betty dug into her pancakes as Polly went to answer the door. There wasn't any conversation with whoever was at the door, but a few moments later Polly came back with a stunned look on her face.

"Who was that?" Hal asked.

"You should come see," Polly said. "All of you."

Everybody went to the front door and stepped out onto the porch. They were all surprised to see a brand new cherry red Ferrari sitting in the driveway. There was a white bow on the hood of the car and a card tucked behind the windshield wiper that was clearly marked "Betty".

Betty walked over and opened the card and turned around.

"Betty, thank you for saving my life and Happy Birthday… Veronica Lodge," Betty read aloud.

"Oh my god that's amazing," Jughead exclaimed.

"I have to give it back," Betty said.

Hal, Alice and Polly all nodded in agreement.

"What, why? The Lodges have lots of money?" Jughead asked.

"Veronica is trying to buy my friendship with this," Betty replied. "It's obviously a ploy to get close to me."

"You don't know that for sure," Jughead said.

"True, but I'd rather not risk it," Betty said. "Besides now that I own a farm I think I need a truck more than I need a Ferrari."

"Well we're going to have to get this thing moved, it's blocking the van," Hal said.

"I'll move it," Polly said eagerly as she ran to the driver side door.

"It's my car," Betty said.

"And you don't have a license," Polly retorted as she opened the door.

"Let me just grab the van keys," Hal said.

"I'm just going to take this thing for a quick trip around the block," Polly said.

She climbed in and started the ignition the car roared to life.

"Wait for me!" Jughead said as he ran and hopped in the passenger seat.

"But it's my car," Betty complained, her complaints falling on deaf ears.

Polly back out of the drive and took off. The car lurched as she shifted gears before disappearing around the corner.

"Come on back inside Betty," Alice said. "You can finish your breakfast."

While Hal moved the van out of the garage and onto the street, Betty finished her breakfast. A few minutes later Polly and Jughead returned rather excited.

"That was so awesome!" Polly declared. "It's a shame you can't keep it."

"That thing accelerates like nothing else, I mean 0-60 in four seconds flat," Jughead said.

"I can accelerate faster than that," Betty said sulkily.

"You already said you weren't going to keep it Betty," Hal said as he came back in from parking the van. "So stop pouting about it."

They were sitting around the table about ten minutes later when the doorbell rang again.

"How come you didn't say anything that time?" Jughead asked Betty.

"I was drinking my orange juice," Betty answered. "And it's just Sheila."

Polly answered the door once again and let Sheila in. Sheila came bounding into the kitchen all excited.

"Ohmygod, Ohmygod, Ohmygod!" she squealed. "There was a bright red Ferrari just ripping around the neighbourhood did you hear it go by?"

"It's in the garage right now," Betty replied.

" **WHAT**?" Sheila asked extremely loudly which caused everyone to reach for their ears.

"It was a gift from Veronica Lodge," Betty answered. "But I'm not keeping it. Polly was just taking it for a drive."

"So Veronica Lodge gives you a Ferrari, and you turn around and want to give right back to her?" Sheila asked. "Are you sure you're not the one that was in the accident?"

"It's complicated," Betty said.

"She also got a farm," Jughead chipped in.

"A farm?" Sheila asked in disbelief.

"It was my grandfather's," Betty explained.

"Why would he give it to you?" Sheila asked.

"He wanted it to be in the family for as long as possible and he figured giving it to the youngest grandchild was the best way to ensure it," Polly lied.

"That's kind of flawed logic," Sheila said.

"Well he also knew that Chic was joining the Air Force, a fairly dangerous job; so that meant either myself or Betty so if you had to choose who would you pick?" Polly asked.

"Well when those are my only options I guess it would have to be Betty," Sheila said.

Betty wasn't sure whether that was an insult or a compliment. It probably wasn't meant as either, but Sheila didn't have much of a filter when it came to expressing herself.

"Well I guess we're just waiting for Dilton to show up," Hal said. "Once he's here we can leave."

"Do you want anything to eat before we go Sheila?" Alice offered.

"No thanks, I'm on a no carb diet right now," Sheila replied.

Alice shrugged and went about cleaning up as everyone else was done eating. Betty and Polly went upstairs to get bathing suits as they fully intended to go on the water rides. Once they were done they came back down where Sheila and Jughead were in the kitchen talking with Hal. Just then the doorbell rang.

"That must be Dilton," Polly said as she went to answer it.

"Didn't you hear that?" Jughead asked Betty.

"Hear what?" Betty retorted before glancing over at Sheila.

Jughead got the hint and immediately winced at the mistake he had almost made.

"Sorry, I thought the doorbell rang twice," Jughead apologized.

"Yeah your head is probably ringing from riding in the Ferrari with Polly," Betty commented sarcastically.

It was indeed Dilton at the door and he came into the kitchen along with Polly. Even now Dilton was dressed in a nerdy fashion with a red and white polo shirt, khaki cargo shorts, black socks with white shoes and a fanny pack.

"Thank you Mr. and Mrs. Cooper for allowing me to come along," Dilton said. "Here is some gas money."

He handed Hal a hundred dollar bill that he pulled from his fanny pack.

"Uh, you don't need to do that," Hal said.

"Oh I insist, I've never been invited anywhere before," Dilton said.

"Okay, but this is way more than what gas is going to cost," Hal said.

"Oh that's alright, I have lots of money," Dilton said.

He reached into his fanny pack and pulled out a wad of bills.

"Where did you get all that money?" Sheila asked as she stared at it in disbelief.

"Oh well I made this phone app that ports over old 8 bit games from old systems like the NES, SEGA and Gameboy." Dilton said. "Sells for a 1.99. I've had about twenty million downloads worldwide."

"Twenty million…" Jughead stammered. "That's like almost forty million dollars!"

"Yeah, although it's not all mine, I mean iTunes and Google take their cuts," Dilton said. "I only get about 40% of the profit."

"That's still what, sixteen million dollars?" Sheila exclaimed.

"Before taxes," Dilton said. "It's more than I need so I don't bother with any tax loopholes I pay in full, so really it's more like eight million."

"Well you're still a millionaire," Betty commented.

"Indeed, if it's alright with you Mr. Cooper I'd like to pay for everything to day, as my gift to Betty and to say thanks," Dilton said.

"That's very generous of you Dilton," Hal said. "But at least let me pay for the parking."

Dilton nodded in agreement.

"Well if we're already I guess we should get going," Alice said.

They all went outside, and Alice locked the door while everyone else got into the van. Betty, Sheila and Polly sat in the back, Jughead and Dilton had the two middle seats while Hal drove and Alice sat beside him in the front passenger seat.

"Seatbelts on everyone," Hal said. "And we're out of here!"

* * *

Veronica frowned as she watched the feed from the Ferrari. She'd had a spy camera installed on it as well as listening devices in the hopes that Betty would say something to give her some insight into what Betty could do. But Betty hadn't even gotten in the car, her older sister had; and after a few quick laps around the block with some boy who Veronica guessed was a boyfriend or neighbour they parked it in the garage.

While they had been driving around Veronica overheard the sister and boy talk about how this car was probably faster than the rides at the amusement park they were going to. As they were getting out the boy made a remark about how it was a shame that the car was going to be returned.

The feed was now only showing the inside of the garage and since they seemed to have left home nothing was happening. Veronica cursed under her breath and shut the feed off.

After sitting there for a moment she pulled up a map of the nearest amusement parks. The closest one was Six Flag Great Adventure which was about a thirty minute drive from Riverdale. Veronica considered what her options were. She didn't want to create a panic like her father had with Ambrose Pipp.

She then came across one interesting test subject, a girl named Cricket O'Dell. It seemed that the girl had an extreme love of money before hand, something that went beyond being a gold digger. She was also an accomplished forger despite only being eighteen. Apparently she had made her own ink using ground up meteor rock which was able to duplicate that of real currency perfectly.

However there had been an accident where the ink had been spilled all over her and had caused rather severe burns to her arms. However afterwards it was found that she was able to absorb money into her arms and then fling it like projectiles which were able to cut through most things.

Veronica wasn't too concerned about the latter ability. However the ability to absorb money struck Veronica as rather useful. Amusement parks were notorious for the transactions being cash, some were cash only although this one wasn't. Still it seemed an excellent way to rob a place, and if Betty was the upstanding citizen that Veronica suspected than she was likely to step into stop Cricket if Cricket were sent to rob it. Veronica could easily tap into the park's security feeds to monitor whatever was going on.

Veronica picked up the phone and dialled the extension for the wing holding the human test subjects.

"Yes this is Director Lodge," she said. "Send me subject 207, I have an assignment for her."

Veronica hung up the phone and smiled. She rubbed her hands anticipation that soon she would have the answers she was looking for about Betty Cooper.

* * *

 _Another chapter that's more setup; but once everybody gets to the amusement park, well that's when things will get interesting I assure you. Somebody else is going to learn Betty's secret. I sort of borrowed the idea for Cricket's powers from a character on Arrow who had tattoo's of playing cards that became real and he could throw them like weapons. I'll admit mine is a little more convoluted but I think it works. Please review._


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12**

* * *

"So Dilton, how come nobody at school knows that you're like a millionaire?" Sheila asked.

They were on the road to Six Flag Great Adventure and were about half way there.

"I figured that telling people would attract the wrong kind of attention," Dilton replied. "I want people to be my friends for who I am, not how much money I have."

"That's an excellent attitude to have Dilton," Alice commented from up front.

"So why are you still even bothering going to school though?" Jughead asked. "I mean you could just go run your own business."

"With the way technology is progressing I'm sure my app will be out dated and not making money in less than a decade, perhaps even less than five years," Dilton replied. "I really just made it as something to make money to put myself through college; getting a doctorate is expensive."

"So you know that you want to be a doctor?" Polly asked.

"Not a medical doctor," Dilton corrected her. "I want to get my doctorate in physics or mechanical engineering or something. What I really want to do is become an astronaut."

"An astronaut?" Betty asked.

"Oh yes, I've always been fascinated by space," Dilton replied. "Plus I've actually got a lot of things going my way that give me a leg up."

"Like what?" Sheila asked.

"Well I'm small which is often a benefit because weight always has an effect on a rocket's launch," Dilton replied. "Also years of being crammed into lockers have made me comfortable in tight spaces."

"So do you want to be part of one of those Mars missions?" Hal asked.

"Oh yes, I mean I don't think we are alone in the universe. I'm certain that there is life on other planets and that while it may be dead now that Mars once had life on it." Dilton said. "I would love to be the one that figures out what exactly happened."

There was a strange quiet amongst everyone in the car that left Sheila and Dilton a little confused.

"So uh, what do you think happened?" Betty asked.

"Well the most likely scenario is that an asteroid struck Mars, much like the one that hit Earth and wiped out the dinosaurs," Dilton replied. "However in the case of Mars since it is much smaller the explosion caused Mars to vent much of its atmosphere out into space. The atmosphere thinned so much that the oceans literally boiled away and over the years what remained has continued to gradually get thinner."

Dilton continued to give his thoughts on being an astronaut and Mars and other space related topics all the way to the amusement park. When they arrived at the gate Dilton paid for everybody's admission, even getting them the platinum flash passes so they could jump the lines of certain rides.

Hal and Alice split off and went to walk the main area and go on some of the gentler rides since Alice got vertigo from the rougher ones, while the teenagers all went to ride the faster ones. They immediately took advantage of the passes to go on all of the roller coasters in the park.

Several hours later they were in line for the Congo Rapids ride.

"Okay we've got room for three more," the ride attendant said.

"You guys go, I'll wait with Dilton," Betty said.

Polly, Jughead and Sheila all got on the ride while Betty and Dilton remained on the platform.

"I've been meaning to ask you something Betty," Dilton said. "It's about the other day when you pushed over Victor."

"Oh come on Dilton," Betty said.

"No, I have an eidetic memory," Dilton said. "I remember what happened perfectly. I've gone over what happened again and again. Betty there is no way that you should have been able to fend of Victor like you did."

"Dilton, I told you…" Betty said.

"That he was off-balance and you caught him by surprise," Dilton finished. "But that's only half true. You did catch him by surprise, but he wasn't off balance."

Betty was stunned and not sure how to respond.

"Then the next day Ambrose Pipp returns from the dead and for some reason he attacks Jughead," Dilton said. "And the two of you had just walked me to my house. Now I didn't see what happened until it was over but I did notice that Ambrose returned to his house for a second time, and that struck me as odd."

Betty wasn't sure where Dilton was going with this, but she was starting to get worried.

"Of course not long afterwards Ambrose disappears again, but not before the town is plunged into a temporary black out," Dilton said.

"Do you have a point here?" Betty asked anxiously.

"Well I don't think that Ambrose just left; I'm sure somebody stopped him. Somebody who knew that overloading his system with electricity just may work; which just happened to be my theory and I only mentioned that idea to three people, you, Jughead and Sheila." Dilton replied. "And I'm pretty sure it was Sheila because she was safely at home, which leaves either you or Jughead."

Betty fidgeted nervously.

"Now Jughead seemed absolutely terrified of Ambrose, so I doubt it was him, which leaves you Betty," Dilton continued. "With what you did to Victor demonstrating that you are clearly stronger than you look; well, all I want to know is how you did it."

Betty found herself caught, unsure of what to say. Fortunately before she had to she was interrupted by the ride attendant.

"Alright, next!" he shouted.

Betty and Dilton stepped forward and climbed into the ride car which was a large round tube with seating for twelve. They strapped in and waited as more people climbed on board.

"Look, I'm not going to out you or anything," Dilton whispered. "Obviously you've been keeping this a secret for a good reason; and the only times I suspected anything was when you stepped into help me and then Jughead. So obviously it's like you use your ability for nefarious purposes."

"Actually it is abilities," Betty whispered back. "And I'll explain when we're off the ride."

The two of them were awkwardly quiet for the rest of the ride, only really making any noise when they were surprised by a splash of water; something which a rather obnoxious girl who was around the same age loudly pointed out to everyone else on the ride.

Once they got off they headed down the exit queue. They saw Polly, Jughead and Sheila at the end waiting for them.

"So I'm guessing that Jughead knows, and your sister probably knows too," Dilton said. "What about Sheila?"

"She doesn't know," Betty said. "So I'd like to keep it that way."

Dilton nodded, "Okay I can respect that, Sheila can be a bit of a gossip."

He quickly dropped the conversation as they got within earshot of the others.

"I'm feeling hungry," Jughead said.

"No surprise there," Sheila commented.

"So do you guys want to go get something to eat now?" Jughead suggested ignoring Sheila's remark.

"I could eat," Betty said.

"Well it's your birthday so we're doing what you want," Polly said. "I'll text Mom and Dad and see if they want to meet up with us."

The group of friends talked about what rides they were going to go on after eating as they made their way towards the restaurants.

* * *

Cricket O'Dell was entirely surprised by what had occurred in the past three hours. In the morning she had been sitting in her underground cell back at Belle Reeve having just finished her meagre breakfast when two guards had come into her cell and taken her up to the new director's office.

Cricket had heard some chatter about a new director but was surprised to meet her. Veronica Lodge was only about a year older than Cricket was. However despite her young age and having only been director for less than a week Veronica seemed to know a great deal of what was going on in the facility and about Cricket herself.

Cricket had thought that perhaps she was just being introduced to the new director as a formality or something, but then Veronica had begun inquiring with Cricket about her ability. Ever since she had been a child Cricket had been absolutely fascinated to the point of obsession with money. She didn't like to spend it though she just liked to collect it, it was sort of a hoarding thing. The problem was she could never get enough.

But then Cricket had tried her hand at forging, her few attempts were abysmal failures. But then she'd come across a sizeable chunk of this green crystal meteor rock. Experimenting she had ground it down and used it to try and make her own ink and had been surprised that it seemed to perfectly replicate the colour she wanted. She'd gone on to make her own forged bills that were nearly impossible to detect.

However one day Cricket had been making a batch of ink when she had accidentally tipped over the large pot she was boiling the ground up meteor rocks in onto herself getting it all over her arms and burning herself. It took several months for her to heal and Cricket was just getting back to forging again. She had picked up a real twenty dollar bill to look over and suddenly it was absorbed into her arms appearing like a tattoo on her forearm.

After some experimentation Cricket soon found that she could absorb any money that she touched into her skin and it would appear like tattoos on her arms. But not only that she could also turn them back into bills, making them shoot out of her wrists with enough force to cut into a wooden door if she wanted.

Her first foray in using her powers was to rob a convenience store. However no sooner had she walked out the store with the unsuspecting cashier staring confused at his empty cash drawer than she was grabbed and loaded into an unmarked van and brought to Belle Reeve.

It seemed as if her parents had sold her out, literally. Whoever it was that ran the facility had paid them for turning her over. The scientists at Belle Reeve had done dozens of experiments on her when she had first arrived, but soon lost interest and she had been left to languish in her cell, until today.

Cricket pushed a lock of her orange hair away from her freckled face as she stood in the queue to get into the amusement park. She had been extremely surprised when Veronica had explained that what she wanted Cricket to do, was come to this amusement park and steal as much cash as she could. Veronica said if Cricket did well enough she was free to leave and do whatever she wanted.

Cricket couldn't help but feel like Veronica wasn't telling her something, or if this was some kind of setup. However she had been rotting in that cell for nearly at least a year; she'd lost track of time so she wasn't about to refuse the chance to get out, even if it was for a short time.

"Next," the attendant at the ticket window called.

Cricket stepped up.

"Just one today?" the attendant asked.

Cricket nodded.

"That'll be 48.75," the attendant said.

Cricket placed her hand on the counter. Before she had been sent, Veronica had given her a stack of 300 dollars in twenty dollar bills to absorb. The tattoos were currently hidden under the long sleeved grey and white V-neck t-shirt that Cricket was wearing. Cricket willed three of the bills to appear and they did under her hand and then she slid them across to the counter.

"That's an interesting trick," the attendant said. "11.25 is your change."

Unfortunately the attendant was on the other side of a glass partition so Cricket couldn't reach across and steal the money from the drawer as it opened. The attendant handed Cricket the change and as she pocketed the quarter she absorbed the ten and the one dollar bills.

Cricket entered the park and walked over to the nearest map and looked it over deciding what to hit first.

* * *

Veronica was sitting in her office when her cell phone rang and she picked it up and answered it.

"Yes?"

"Subject 207 is in the park," came the report.

"Thank you," Veronica said before hanging up.

Veronica had already hacked into the security cameras at the amusement park. Doing so had been child's play for her. But the ease with which she was able to gain access was likely because the cameras weren't of a particularly high quality. They were a bit choppy at perhaps a frame or two per second, although they were at least in colour and the image quality was decent, which let her run a facial recognition program to track Betty's movements through the park.

Veronica had been watching Betty through the day and saw that she had her friends were heading away from the rides now, possibly to get food or maybe to play some of the carnival games. It was rather fortunate since it made it more likely for Betty to learn about Cricket.

Veronica found calling Cricket, subject 207 was rather dehumanizing; it was something that one of the previous directors had mandated in an effort to treat the experiment subjects as though they weren't human. She could understand the idea of treating them as though they weren't people since it would make coping with what was being done to them easier to deal with, even if she didn't agree with it in practice.

Veronica watched as Cricket walked over to a ring toss game. There was a cash box that was kept just below the counter that could be seen from the camera Veronica was watching. Cricket paid for some rings and then as Veronica watched she intentionally misthrew them. The attendant was distracted by one of Cricket's terrible tosses which afforded Cricket the split second she needed to reach across the counter putting her hand in the cash box. Veronica saw all of the cash disappear in an instant, the attendant none the wiser. Cricket threw her last ring and then just turned and walked away. It was few minutes until the attendant realized he had been robbed.

Veronica wondered how long it would take and how many different places Cricket would have to rob before Betty intervened. She sat back and continued to watch the cameras.

* * *

 _We've got our introduction to Cricket as a character and we get a little more insight into what Veronica is capable of; I have to say even as the writer I find think of her hacking and doing all this science stuff a little different from the usual image of Veronicia Lodge that I have, but it's fun and I hope you guys enjoy it. Also it looks like Dilton has figured out Betty largely on his own, but how will he react when he learns the entire truth? Keep reading to find out and review to keep me motivated to keep writing._


	14. Chapter 13

**Chapter 13**

* * *

Betty and the other had gone back to the main area where the majority of the parks restaurants were located. Jughead had made an immediate beeline for Johnny Rockets, while Polly went to get a table for them to sit at. Sheila went to the pizzeria and Betty was about to follow her when Dilton grabbed her and led her over towards the Main Street Deli.

"Dilton, what are you…?" Betty asked surprised.

"We're going to talk," Dilton said quietly. "And I could go for a pastrami sandwich."

Betty had felt like pizza but as they approached the deli she could smell the corned beef and soon changed her mind.

"Alright fine," Betty agreed. "What is it you want to know?"

"First off, just what is it you can do?" Dilton asked. "Obviously you have enhanced strength, but what else? How strong are you?"

"I'm very strong," Betty said. "Give me a lump of coal and I could probably crush it into a diamond."

"That's not actually possible," Dilton said.

"The replacement diamond on my mom's wedding ring would disagree with you," Betty responded.

Dilton wasn't sure if she was joking or not. Betty wasn't but she couldn't prove it at the moment.

"Okay, so what else?" Dilton inquired.

"I'm fast, extremely fast," Betty answered.

"You somehow got Ambrose out of the auditorium without anyone seeing," Dilton realized.

Betty nodded.

"And I'm guessing it's very hard to hurt you," Dilton said.

"I was punched through a wall," Betty said. "An exterior wall too, so you know… thicker."

"But how?" Dilton asked.

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me," Betty replied. "But I'll show you later after we leave the park, deal?"

"Deal," Dilton agreed.

They waited in line to be served at the Deli. There was red-headed girl in front of them in line, wearing a long sleeved grey and white shirt. Betty noticed that it looked as though she had tattoos of money creeping up her shoulders towards her neck. They looked very realistic. Betty tapped the girl on the shoulder and she turned around a little startled.

"I love your tattoos," Betty commented. "They're very real looking."

"Oh, uh thank you," the girl said before turning back around.

The girl was up next and she placed her order getting a roast beef sandwich on rye. She went to place her change in the tip jar and accidentally knocked it over behind the counter.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," the girl said as she reached over the counter.

"It's alright," the server working behind the counter said. "No harm, no foul."

The girl smiled and then took her sandwich and walked off.

"And what can I get you today?" the server asked Betty and Dilton.

"Whatever you want birthday girl," Dilton said. "I'm buying."

"Hmm, I'll have the corned beef and egg sandwich," Betty decided.

"And I'll get the hot pastrami," Dilton decided.

"Are those combos?" the server asked.

"Of course," Dilton replied.

"That'll be $37.50," he said.

Dilton reached into his fanny pack and pulled out a pair of twenties and handed them to the server. The server went to open the drawer and get change.

"What the…" he stammered in surprise. "Where did my money go? All I've got here is coin? Where are my bills!?"

Betty stole a quick glance to see if he was lying for some reason, but saw that he wasn't. There were only coins left in the till. But he'd just given change to the girl ahead of them. That could only mean one thing.

"Where did she go?" Betty asked as she turned around looking for the red haired girl.

However Betty couldn't find her. Despite her distinct hair colour, the girl had managed to vanish into the crowd. However that wasn't too surprising to Betty; what was, was how the girl had managed to clear out the cash drawer so quickly. Her display looked like it would have been enough to perhaps palm a few bills not all the cash in the drawer. Then Betty remembered the money tattoos on the girl and she had a crazy idea.

"I've got an idea Dilton," Betty whispered.

"Don't worry about the change," Dilton said to the server.

The server gave them their food but then the manager came along to close the restaurant down.

"What the happened back there?" Dilton asked as they made their way towards the table that Polly had saved for them.

"I'm not entirely sure how, but I'm almost certain that girl ahead of us stole all the money from the till," Betty replied.

"How? That shouldn't be possible," Dilton said.

"I don't know either, but you also saw those money tattoos that she had, they looked almost exactly like real money," Betty said.

"And maybe they were," Dilton stated finishing her theory.

"I know it's crazy," Betty said.

"It's no crazier than anything you can do, or what Ambrose could do," Dilton said.

"The problem is who's going to believe us," Betty said. "We could tell the park security but nobody would believe us."

"Well then there's only one thing to do," Dilton said.

"What's that?" Betty asked.

"We have to stop her ourselves," Dilton replied.

* * *

Veronica had been tense and excited to see that Betty and one of her friends were in line at one of the restaurants directly behind Cricket. Cricket had made a clever distraction to rob the till, which left Veronica rather impressed.

Unfortunately Veronica didn't have audio so she wasn't sure what was being discussed, but she was quite certain that Betty and her friend had figured out that Cricket had robbed the restaurant. However to her disappointment they didn't go running off after Cricket. Veronica wondered if perhaps he plan wasn't going to work.

Unfortunately Betty and her friend were sitting in an area that wasn't well covered by the security cameras so Veronica couldn't see what they were doing. However she was able to keep an eye on Cricket, who had immediately dumped the food she had purchased and then headed to a store called the M-PORIUM that sold a lot of candy.

That store had multiple registers and as Veronica watched Cricket cleverly robbed them all. Once she had Veronica remotely erased the security camera footage as she had each time Cricket robbed a place, going back for about 15 minutes and then watched the panicked staff in the store freaking out as Cricket calmly moved on.

She hoped that Betty would figure it out soon and do something about it. If not this was going all be for naught.

* * *

Dilton and Betty reached the table where Polly and Jughead were sitting, Sheila was still getting her food apparently.

"We may have a problem," Betty said.

"What, they don't have the mustard you like?" Polly asked jokingly.

"No, there's a thief stealing all of the cash from the tills around here," Betty said.

"And we think she's somehow turning it into tattoos on her body simply by touching it," Dilton added.

Polly and Jughead both looked at Betty and Dilton and then at each other.

"He knows, doesn't he?" Jughead asked pointing at Dilton.

Betty nodded.

"You told him?" Polly asked rather surprised.

"Actually he figured it out himself, well enough that I had to tell him the rest," Betty replied.

"It's very hard to convince a person with an eidetic memory that they didn't remember something properly," Dilton stated.

"Well… shit," Polly commented.

"You're certain that this thief, whoever he or she is, is doing this?" Jughead asked.

"Oh it's definitely a girl," Betty said. "She was in front of us in line at the Deli and when we ordered suddenly there was no cash left in the drawer."

"Betty noticed that the girl had some very realistic looking tattoos going up her shoulders, they probably cover her entire arms but she had her arms covered with a long sleeve shirt," Dilton said.

Just then they heard shouting from over near the M-PORIUM, a candy shop that sold Mars bars, M & M's and other related products.

"Shouldn't we just tell the park security?" Polly suggested.

"I don't think they'll believe us," Betty responded. "Probably might even think we're responsible. No we've got to try and catch her."

"But what if she's dangerous?" Jughead asked. "I mean the electricity that Ambrose absorbed made him stronger, maybe the money she absorbs makes her faster? I don't know."

Just then Sheila came walking back from getting her pizza.

"That was annoying," Sheila muttered. "They had ran out of change for some reason so it was either exact change or pay with a card. I didn't want to use my Visa."

"We had the same issue at the Deli," Dilton commented.

"You'd think they'd know how to properly run an amusement park right?" Sheila asked.

The others all nodded in false agreement.

Polly got up to go get her own food while the others ate their lunches and talked about what they were going to do in the afternoon. Polly returned from Johnny Rockets a few moments later.

"They were out cash there too," Polly commented. "That's really weird."

"You'd think somebody is going around robbing the place," Sheila said. "But then somebody would probably notice."

"You'd think," Jughead agreed.

"I wouldn't mind trying some of the boardwalk games," Betty said. "Maybe win an oversized stuffed animal?"

"That sounds fun," Polly said.

"Those games are usually rigged," Sheila said.

"Betty's really good at them," Polly stated.

"It's true that the odds are stacked in the favour of the operator," Dilton said. "But they're not unwinnable."

"If you don't want to play the games you and I can go on the go-karts," Jughead suggested. "They're in the same place more or less."

"Alright," Sheila agreed.

Once they finished eating the group got up and headed over in the direction of the boardwalk games and go-karts. On the way they heard many comments about missing money as well as seeing a lot of security guards wandering about trying to be inconspicuous but failing miserably at it. Jughead and Sheila split off to get in line for the go-karts.

"Let's fan out a bit," Betty said. "It will make finding this girl easier."

"What does she look like?" Polly asked.

"A bit on the shorter side, orange hair she's wearing a grey and white long sleeved shirt with a V-neck and a pair of jeans," Dilton replied. "She's got quite a few freckles on her face but there's a particularly dark on rick near the corner of her mouth on the left side of her face, her left your right."

Betty and Polly stared at him surprised.

"Eidetic memory, remember?" Dilton said tapping his head. "Now let find this girl."

They fanned out each of them going to a different game. Dilton went to try the ring toss, while Polly went to try a skee-ball game and Betty went over to a test of strength game, the one where you hit a hammer pad with a hammer and tried to ring a bell, or rather a more modern electronic version of that game.

"Hey there pretty lady," the guy running the game said.

"Can I play?" Betty asked.

"Sure, but don't you want a big strong guy to take a swing for you?" he asked flexing his right arm.

Betty immediately thought that this guy reminded her of Reggie. He was strong and good-looking with similar dark hair, but clearly chauvinistic and a bit of a jerk.

"I think I can do alright myself," Betty responded.

"It's your money," the guy said. "Three swings for five dollars."

Betty handed him five dollars and he then handed her the big rubber mallet. Betty hefted it in her hands, to her it felt like nothing.

"Whoa this thing is heavier than I thought," Betty lied.

"The offer still stands," the guy said.

Betty took a testing swing on the game and watched it go up. There was an electronic counter at the top that would count all the way up to 100 and her first swing only got to 62.

"That's not bad, for a girl," the guy commented.

Betty gave him a dirty look and took a second swing. This time it went all the way up to 81.

"Whoa, that's a big improvement," the guy said surprised.

Betty just smirked and then took her third and final spring. The counter quickly went all the way to 100 and then a series of bells began clanging and a voice yelled out, "Winner!"

"What the hell?" the guy muttered in surprise.

Betty tossed the mallet back to him with one hand and he caught it with two rather awkwardly.

"Keep working out, maybe you'll be as strong as I am one day," Betty commented. "So my prize?"

The confused guy handed Betty a huge stuffed giraffe and she happily walked away with her prize looking for her sister. She spotted Polly playing skee-ball before she got to Polly she was intercepted by Dilton.

"I found her," Dilton said.

"Where?" Betty asked.

Dilton pointed to a row of shooting games and Betty immediately recognized the girl's orange hair.

"Hold this," Betty said handing him the giraffe. "I'll deal with her."

She walked away from Dilton leaving him holding the giraffe. She kept her eyes locked on the girl watching her every move. She was at a game where the object was to shoot a water gun at a target to be the first to fill up a tube. It looked like she was flirting with the game's attendant at the moment. Betty saw the girl accidentally drop a one dollar bill to the ground on the other side of the counter. As the attendant went to pick it up for her the girl made a move for the cash drawer. Betty quickly sped over and grabbed her by the wrist stopping her.

"What the hell?" the attendant asked as he stood up.

"She was making a move for your cash," Betty said.

The attendant looked at the girl surprised. He then went to grab a walkie-talkie he had sitting nearby, when suddenly the girl flicked her free hand and something came flying out striking the radio and destroying it. The girl then flicked her wrist at Betty's and something struck Betty on the wrist.

"Ow!" Betty exclaimed as she grabbed her wrist letting go of the girl in the process.

The girl took off while Betty looked at her wrist in surprise. She was cut, actually bleeding. She had never bled before in her life. The cut quickly healed but Betty was worried. She stood there staring at it for a moment.

"Are you okay?" the attendant asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Betty replied finally looking up. "Which way did she go?"

"I think you should let security handle that," the attendant said.

Just then Dilton and Polly came running over. Betty quickly walked over to join them.

"What happened?" Polly asked.

"She got away," Betty replied.

"How?" Dilton inquired.

"She… cut me," Betty answered.

"Cut you? How could she do that?" Polly asked.

"I don't know," Betty replied. "She flung these projectiles from her wrist, one destroyed the attendant's radio, and the other one cut my wrist."

"Are you alright?" Dilton asked.

Betty showed them her wrist which was healed all there was still a bit of blood stained on her skin.

"But the only thing that hurts you is meteor rocks," Polly commented.

"Wait, meteor rocks can hurt you?" Dilton asked.

Betty nodded, "Yes why?" she responded.

"Because I've got an idea on what's going on, with Ambrose and this girl, probably you too," Dilton said.

Polly and Betty both looked at each other both confused.

"I think that they got their abilities from the meteor rocks," Dilton explained. "I actually have a few samples of my own and I've done some experiments on them, they defy the laws of physics and have properties that make no sense. It stands to reason that they might be able to give people different abilities."

"So we could have even more people like this on our hands?" Betty asked worriedly.

"That's possible," Dilton replied.

"I've got to stop her before anybody else gets hurt, and fast," Betty said.

"Betty, no, she can hurt you," Polly said grabbing her sister's wrist.

"I'll heal," Betty said. "Look it might not be my fault, but if these people's abilities come from meteor rocks then I've got a responsibility to stop them."

"Why would it be your responsibility?" Dilton asked.

"Because I'm an alien," Betty replied. "And those meteor rocks came with me when I arrived on Earth."

* * *

 _Kind of ended it on a bit of a cliffhanger, at least from Dilton's perspective. Find out the how and why Betty was able to be hurt, if she is able to stop Cricket, and if Veronica is able to learn Betty's secret in the next chapter. Kind of gave Betty a bit of a Spiderman attitude towards being a hero there too as she takes responsibility. Please Review._


	15. Chapter 14

**Chapter 14**

* * *

"What do you mean you're an alien?" Dilton asked in complete disbelief.

"Exactly what I said," Betty replied. "I'm not from Earth, yes I came here in a space ship, and I'll show it to you if you want."

"Really Betty, I haven't even seen the ship yet," Polly said.

"You probably have but just don't remember," Betty responded. "But that's not the point, the point is we need to stop this girl. And I don't really care what either of you say, it is my responsibility. There was a message with the ship, from my birth mother, asking that I be raised to use my abilities to help people, and that's what I'm going to do."

"She can hurt you Betty," Dilton said.

"She caught me off guard," Betty responded. "Now that I know what she can do I know how to take her down."

"And just how are you going to do that?" Polly asked.

"I'm faster and stronger," Betty said. "Piece of cake."

Betty turned and went off searching for the girl on her own.

* * *

Veronica cursed the low frame rate of the amusement park's security cameras. Betty had gone to confront Cricket just as Veronica had suspected she would. Unfortunately it had all happened rather quickly and Veronica had been unable to make out what happened. Even though it was recorded on two separate cameras.

What she did see was that it looked as though Cricket had cut Betty's hand or wrist with one of her thrown bills. Veronica found that a bit contradictory since she was certain that she had hit Betty with her car but Betty didn't have a scratch on her.

Veronica continued to monitor the cameras while she put the footage from the two cameras through some software that would try and render a 3D composite video of what happened.

* * *

Cricket was worried. That blond girl had come out of nowhere to stop her from stealing cash from the carnival game and she'd been forced to use her powers to get away.

Cricket hadn't wanted to hurt the girl, but she'd had such a surprisingly strong grip on her wrist. She'd made sure that the wound was as superficial as he could manage. The girl was only trying to do the right thing and Cricket could respect that.

But now Cricket was worried. The girl and the attendant had both seen her face so it was only a matter of time before security started looking for her. She had to try and get out of the park now, but going out the main entrance likely wasn't an option since there would definitely be security stationed there, plus that meant going back through all the security from the restaurants she had ripped off earlier.

"Good going Cricket," she cursed herself. "You really backed yourself into a corner on this one."

She paused to look around and think. There had to be another way out of here; a maintenance or employee exit that she could use. Then she spotted something over on the far side of the go-karts. It was a service entrance, it was a rolling metal door that was probably used to bring in go-karts and take others out for repairs that couldn't be done on site.

She made her way over to the door and tried to lift it up only to find that it was locked. Cricket cursed yet again as she looked at the lock. It was a simple sliding bar that was being held shut by a padlock. She could probably break the lock with her abilities.

It took two tries but she managed to break the padlock. Smiling to herself Cricket bent down and went to open the door when suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Going somewhere?" a familiar voice asked.

Cricket looked up to see that it was blonde girl again.

"Who are you?" Cricket asked.

* * *

"No! No! No!" Veronica shouted at the screen.

She had watched as Cricket walked off into an employees only area that had no security cameras and then moments later was followed by Betty. If anything happened there Veronica wouldn't be able to see it. She had to make sure that her people managed to at least bring Cricket back to Belle Reeve. She picked up her phone and made a call.

* * *

"I could ask you the same question," Betty replied to the thief.

"Fine, let's swap names, I'm Cricket," the girl said.

"Betty," Betty replied a little caught off guard.

Cricket suddenly made a move to throw a razor bill at Betty, but Betty grabbed her by both wrists and pinned her up against the door.

"That wasn't going to work a second time," Betty said.

Cricket struggled to get free but was surprised at how strong Betty was. She brought her knee up into Betty's gut but only succeeded in injuring her leg, it was like driving her knee into a brick wall. Cricket let out a cry of pain while Betty just had an amused expression on her face.

"Are you one of the Belle Reeve experiments?" Cricket asked. "Or did you get your powers from an accident like I did?"

"Belle Reeve?" Betty responded confused. "What are you talking about?"

"It's this facility where they experiment on people with meteor rocks trying to give them powers," Cricket explained.

Betty was shocked; she wondered if that was where Ambrose had been since he disappeared.

"Did you know a boy named Ambrose Pipp?" Betty asked. "He would have been about the same age as me."

"Oh the Hulking Battery as we called him," Cricket answered. "Yeah, he disappeared from his cell night only to return later in the day in a coma, we wondered what had happened to him."

Betty was growing more and more worried with each answer Cricket gave her.

"Who runs this place?" Betty asked.

"The person in charge seems to turn over all the time, we've had like five in the last four years. In fact we just got a new director the other day; a young woman too, very pretty, uh Veronica Lodge." Cricket said.

Betty's eyes went wide with surprise.

"I take it by your reaction that you know her," Cricket commented.

"You could say that," Betty responded. "So did she sent you here?"

Cricket nodded.

"She must have figured out that we were coming here," Betty thought out loud.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Cricket asked.

"Look, both of us have… abilities," Betty said. "From the sounds of it Veronica and her father Hiram Lodge are trying to gather people with them. For what purpose, I don't know. But given the family's cutthroat reputation in the business world my guess is that it isn't anything good."

"I don't know, Veronica seemed kind of nice the one time I met her," Cricket said. "She said if I did well enough here I could go free."

"I don't think she intended to keep that promise," Betty said. "She sent you here to lure me into revealing myself."

Cricket frowned confused.

"I have… abilities, that they find rather desirable shall we say," Betty said picking her words carefully. "And I'm pretty sure that you were sent here to get me to reveal myself."

"What are you talking about?" Cricket asked.

"I rescued Veronica from her car after she hit me with it and then ended up running off a bridge," Betty said. "I'm also the one who put Ambrose in a coma; not intentionally by the way."

"Whoa, that's badass," Cricket commented.

"Look I'm guessing that you don't want to go back to Belle Reeve or wherever right?" Betty asked.

"God no, they've kept me locked in a cell for… I don't even know how long now." Cricket replied.

"Well I bet you that they're waiting outside ready to take you back in," Betty stated. "But I can help you out."

"If you just step aside and let me go we'll call it even," Cricket said.

"I'll do you one better," Betty said.

She reached into the pocket of her shorts and pulled a card out of her wallet. It had Dilton's email address on it.

"You promise to e-mail everything you know about this Belle Reeve facility to this email address and I can get you to nearest bus station, like instantly."

"What you can teleport?" Cricket asked in disbelief. "Why not send me to Hawaii or something?"

"Because I don't teleport," Betty replied. "Now do we have a deal?"

Cricket looked at the card. Ever since she'd been sent on this assignment she had felt something was off. If Betty could make good on her promise then Cricket was more than happy to take the chance to go free now. And as far as she could see she was in a win-win situation.

"Alright, deal," Cricket agreed.

"Okay, hold on," Betty said.

Cricket was surprised as Betty picked her up over one shoulder and there was a rush of wind and an instant later they were in a bus station that was about five miles away from the park.

"How did we get here?" Cricket asked surprised.

"I ran," Betty answered. "Now remember, everything you know about Belle Reeve to that email address. If they're actually experimenting on people and holding them prisoner I'm going to set them free and I'll need your help."

"Of course, you got it," Cricket agreed, grateful for being given a chance.

"And try not to steal any more money," Betty said. "I don't want to have to come hunt you down. If I come across a news report about a girl absorbing money out of a till by just touching it…"

"Well I might a little, just to get by," Cricket said. "But I'll try to keep it to places that can afford to lose it."

"You know you could find a way to use your ability legally," Betty said. "You know transporting money for people."

"You're right, I hadn't considered that," Cricket admitted. "I'll look into it once I've relocated."

"Where are you going to go?" Betty asked.

"I dunno, maybe out west, maybe down south. Preferably somewhere warm," Cricket answered.

"Well good luck," Betty said. "I've got to get back."

Before Cricket could even wave good-bye Betty was gone. Cricket just shook her head in disbelief and went to purchase a bus ticket.

* * *

Betty returned to the park and soon re-joined her friends.

"Where did you disappear to Betty?" Sheila asked.

"Oh I had to use the bathroom," Betty lied. "But the women's bathrooms over here are so crowded so I wandered around till I found one that wasn't."

"Well you could have told somebody," Sheila chastised her.

"Sorry Sheila it was urgent," Betty said. "Now come on let's go hit some more rides."

They spent the rest of the afternoon in the park going on all the rides not designed specifically for kids. It was starting to get dark when they finally met back up with Hal and Alice near the main entrance.

"Did you kids have a fun day?" Alice asked.

"It was certainly eventful," Polly commented.

"Yes apparently a bunch of places in the park were robbed right around lunch time," Hal said. "But they didn't end up catching anyone."

"Yeah, I heard that it seemed like it was co-ordinated by a bunch of people," Betty commented. "Seems like one of those mysteries that will never be solved."

They all left the park and got in the Cooper's van and Hal drove home.

"Alright Dilton and Sheila before you go home come in the house for some cake," Alice said as they were getting out of the van.

Everybody went into the house. Alice brought out a cake she had made and they all sang happy birthday to Betty and had a slice of cake. Then Dilton and Sheila went to go home. Sheila left first and then Dilton. Betty offered to walk with him.

"So when can I see this supposed ship of yours?" Dilton asked as they walked to his house.

"Tomorrow," Betty replied. "It's out on my grandfather's, or I guess it's mine, farm."

"Alright, I'll come by in the morning?" Dilton asked.

"Not too early," Betty said. "I've got to return that Ferrari to Veronica tomorrow too."

* * *

"What do you mean you can't find her?" Veronica yelled into the phone. "She absorbed money onto her skin she doesn't disappear into thin air."

Veronica was endlessly frustrated. Cricket had disappeared off camera with Betty; they were off camera for about fifteen minutes but then Betty had reappeared but Cricket never did. Veronica had just lost a test subject for no gain. She hadn't gotten any proof about Betty whatsoever, even the footage she had tried to splice together had proven useless.

Veronica realized she was going to have to rethink how she went about this. She couldn't just send an endless stream of the test subjects after Betty.

It was late though and Veronica was tired. Whatever she was going to do it could wait. At the very least Betty looked as if she was going to be in highschool for two more years so Veronica definitely had all that time to figure out what Betty's secret was; but she would prefer to figure it out before then.

Veronica took a look at the red meteor shard on her desk once again. She wondered if there were other coloured shards that existed besides this one. That was something she was going to have to look into as well. But again another day.

Veronica grabbed her things and left her office and turned off the light. As she looked back she saw that the meteor shard was glowing very dimly, barely enough to light up the area on her desk immediately around itself. Another mystery for another day.

* * *

 _For anybody hoping for a battle between Cricket and Betty, sorry to disappoint. Cricket's character was never intended to be an outright villain, but closer to an anti-hero like Catwoman or Black Cat (although without the overt sex appeal). However now Betty has some idea of what Veronica is up to and about Belle Reeve. But is Betty getting involved in something she can't win? Read and find out. And as always Please Review!_


	16. Chapter 15

**Chapter 15**

* * *

"Geez, we haven't been out on Grandpa Munroe farm in years," Polly commented.

Polly along with Betty, Jughead and Dilton had all driven out to the farm together. Earlier in the day Betty and Polly had driven the Ferrari back to the dealership where it had been purchased from.

"Well it's my farm now," Betty said. "And I've been out here twice in just the last week. But I know what you mean, it had been years before that. Come on it's in the old barn."

Betty led the way to the old barn. She opened the large swinging door carefully not sure if it might cause the whole structure to collapse. When it didn't she stepped aside to let the others in.

"You're not coming?" Dilton asked.

"My ship and I don't exactly get along," Betty said.

Dilton was a little confused but didn't ask further. He, Polly and Jughead went over and together pulled the tarp off of the ship.

"This is amazing," Dilton commented looking at it. "And it works?"

Betty shrugged. "I think so."

Dilton knelt down beside it and ran a hand along it feeling the smooth metal surface.

"Weird, it's almost warm to the touch, like touching a person's skin," Dilton commented.

"Really?" Polly asked.

She knelt down on the other side of the ship from Dilton and did likewise. As she did the image of Betty's birth mother suddenly appeared above ship floating in the air. Dilton and Polly both scurried back, frightened by the appearance.

"Thank you for finding our daughter," the image of Betty's mother said. "I am Alura of the planet Krypton. Our planet is much like yours but we are far more technologically advanced. However that technology has come with a steep price and unfortunately our planet is dying. My husband and I have sent our daughter Kara to your planet so that she may live. Under your yellow sun she will end up being different to the beings of your planet, she would almost be a god. Please raise her to use her abilities for the betterment of your race."

A few seconds later the image vanished.

"How does she speak English?" Dilton asked. "Or rather know to speak English? I mean perhaps they sent you here having known of our planet but how could they know that you would have ended up in a place that speaks English. There are nearly 6,500 spoken language in the world, admittedly not all nearly as widely spoken as others. But still why not Chinese then, more people speak that? Perhaps there's some sort of translating devices?"

"I don't know Dilton," Betty replied. "I have no idea how it works."

"I think a better question is how come you didn't mention that your birth mother looks like Aunt Judy?" Polly asked.

"I… I didn't even realize that," Betty said. "At least not till now. I mean she's a lot younger looking than Aunt Judy."

Their Aunt Judy was Alice's older sister and she lived out on the west coast in Portland. They used to see her once a year during the Christmas holidays but hadn't in the past three years since their grandfather's health issues.

"Yeah but that picture of her from Mom and Dad's wedding day? I mean the similarities are eerie." Polly said.

"Yeah but that picture is what, almost 27 years old, 28 almost?" Betty replied.

"If I may interject," Dilton interrupted. "Perhaps you coming here and ending up with the Coopers wasn't just a coincidence, perhaps it was predetermined."

"What are you talking about Dilton?" Jughead asked.

"Well we've got a pretty curious series of coincidences here, the Hologram speaks English but also looks very similar to their aunt. What if these are the result of mere coincidences but rather that Betty was sent here to live with the Coopers." Dilton suggested.

"What do you mean?" Betty asked.

"Well we have no idea where your planet of origin is, but based on what science has determined about solar systems with planets that may support life the nearest planet is five hundred light years away and that's not even necessarily where you are from. So for them to send you here from wherever you are from suggests that they have extremely advanced technology." Dilton said. "Your mother said as much in her message, but I'm trying to give a scale here. Anyway the wording also suggests that they searched out for and found out planet somehow. So it's not unheard of that they would search for a family that you could fit in with to raise you."

"Those are a lot of presumptions there Dilton," Polly commented.

"Well it just seems far more likely than the fact that she ended up with your family by pure coincidence," Dilton said. "I mean she looks like she could be your sister, I mean who knows maybe there's some kind of connection between Betty's race and humans."

"Well there could be a way to find out," Polly said looking at Betty.

Betty shook her head.

"No, I'm not ready for that yet," Betty said.

"What are you not ready for?" Dilton asked.

"The ship has the answers," Polly said. "But to get them Betty needs to go away with it."

"And I don't know where or for how long." Betty added.

"You could always ask it," Polly said.

"I'd rather not," Betty said.

"But…" Dilton began to say.

"This is Betty's decision," Jughead cut him off. "It's not either of yours, it's not mine, and it's not even her parents' decision. It is her decision and it's our job to support her no matter what she chooses as her sister and her friends."

"You're right Jughead," Polly agreed.

"I'm sorry for pushing you Betty," Dilton apologized. "Can we make this up to you?"

"I've got an idea on that," Betty said.

Polly and Dilton looked at her a little shocked and a little curious.

"Keeping the ship here isn't exactly the safest option. I mean I'm sure that the Lodge's will find out that it belongs to me now soon and come snooping, or at least send somebody." Betty said. "So we need to hide the ship better."

"Okay well what did you have in mind?" Jughead asked.

"Burying it," Betty replied.

"Come again?" Polly inquired not sure she understood.

"I'll dig the hole," Betty said. "I just need you guys to put it in the hole."

"And where would this hole be?" Dilton asked.

"Here on the farm, out in the fields," Betty said. "It will be deep enough that we can plant crops over top of it."

The three of them looked at the ship. It was smaller than a car but it still looked heavier than anything the three of them could carry.

"Grandpa sold his tractors so we've got nothing to move it with," Polly said.

"Well I can help with that," Dilton said.

"How?" Jughead asked. "Do you own a tractor?"

"No, but I do have money," Dilton replied. "I know you had to return that Ferrari Betty, but let me buy you a truck. You're going to need it now that you own a farm."

"I can't let you do that Dilton," Betty said. "Besides I don't have my licence yet."

"Very well, Polly would you like a truck on condition that you use it to help Betty?" Dilton asked turning to Polly.

"Uh, hell yeah!" Polly agreed.

"Polly!" Betty exclaimed.

"What? He offered me a truck. Not my first choice of car admittedly, but I'll take it," Polly stated.

"I'm with your sister on this one Betty," Jughead said.

Betty sighed in resignation.

"Fine," she agreed.

"You know we can use this place as our little base as we try and take down the Lodges," Polly suggested.

"That's true," Dilton agreed. "I mean we'll probably have to renovate the house a bit and perhaps the barn…"

"We definitely need to get a stone pizza oven," Jughead stated.

"I don't think a stone pizza oven is going to help us take down the Lodges," Betty said.

"Speak for yourself but I do everything better on a full stomach," Jughead said.

"We'll look into it Jughead," Dilton said.

Dilton, Polly and Jughead covered the ship up with the tarp once more and then they left the old barn. Betty picked up a shovel as they left the barn.

"Well, I'm going to get started digging that hole," Betty decided. "You guys figure out what you're doing for a truck to move the ship."

"Do you want me to come back and pick you up later?" Polly asked.

"Nah, I'll run home," Betty replied.

Betty watched as they got into the van and drove out to the rode heading back to Riverdale. She stood there until they had driven out of sight before heading out into the field and finding a spot. Then she got to digging.

For Betty it wasn't difficult work, but it was a little tedious. She went quickly at first to get the shape but as she started to go deeper she slowed down a bit because she didn't want to have the hole filling in on itself because that would just increase the amount of work she would have to do.

It was starting to get late in the afternoon when she finally felt she was finished. Betty was standing in the bottom of the hole which was nearly twenty feet deep and was about twelve feet long by seven feet wide; the length and width were just a bit larger than the dimensions of the ship and Betty wanted to make sure it was buried deep which was why she had gone down twenty feet.

Betty jumped up out of the hole and stood looking at her handing work. She had dug up over 62 tons of dirt using nothing but a shovel and she hadn't even broken a sweat. She smiled proud of her accomplishment for the day and hoped that her sister and friends could come through.

Betty then looked down to see that she was completely covered in dirt and mud. Quite a bit of that would come off when she ran home but she would still need a shower, and she couldn't see what her hair looked like at the moment. However Betty wasn't quite ready to head home yet. Resting the shovel on her shoulder she slowly walked back towards the farm house.

Betty had been thinking quite a bit about everything she had learned yesterday from Cricket. The fact that there was a place where people were being experimented on was reprehensible; and Cricket had flat out said that Veronica was involved. However she had also said that Veronica had been made the director in just the past week, which made sense with Veronica's rather public profile. For her to be involved with something shady like this with how much she used to be followed around by the paparazzi seemed unlikely.

But it wasn't hard to believe that her father Hiram Lodge was involved. The first time she had met him he had just seemed to be concerned about his daughter, but the second time she had met him in Principal Weatherbee's office she had gotten a strange shady vibe from the man. Given that his company had gotten the sole clean up contract for Riverdale it wasn't hard to believe that he'd taken advantage and hoarded vast amounts of the meteor rocks and had later used them to test on people. The only thing that was hard to believe was that he had been allowed to do so.

Betty was hoping that Cricket had more information when she was able to get back in contact.

* * *

Cricket got off the bus in Kansas City. She wasn't sure how, but she felt like she was being followed. She had been paying cash for all her bus tickets. She walked across the street to the train station glancing back over her shoulder. She didn't see anybody but she couldn't shake the feeling that somebody was watching her.

Cricket walked up to the Amtrak ticket counter.

"I'd like a ticket please, to Portland," Cricket said.

"Okay, would you like a sleeper cabin?" the woman working the counter asked.

The cabin meant that Cricket would have a door she could lock and it would give her some privacy as well as help her know if she was following. At least better than she could tell on the bus. Plus she had barely slept in the past day, she could use a bed now.

"Yes, please," Cricket said.

"That will be $917," the attendant said.

Cricket soon realized why more people didn't travel by train. It was slower and somehow more expensive than an airplane. She faked reaching into her pocket to produce the requested cash and handed it over. The attendant counted the money and was surprised that she had given her exact change.

"Here you go," the attendant said giving Cricket her ticket. "There's a transfer in Los Angeles onto the 14 Coast Starlight train. Your train leaves in fifteen minutes."

"Thanks," Cricket said taking the ticket.

She headed to the station bathroom first to freshen up before getting on the train. As she did she felt she saw a man wearing a black ball cap following her. In the bathroom Cricket looked over the money tattoos on her arms. She still had nearly three thousand dollars left which was more than enough to get out to the west coast. However she was wondering if Portland might not have been the best place to go. Well she could always get off somewhere earlier along the route.

Cricket left the bathroom and headed for the platform. She looked around but didn't see the man in the black ball cap. Perhaps she was just being paranoid. The call for final board came just as she reached the platform. All of sudden Cricket was grabbed from behind. Cricket flailed her elbow around at her attacker connecting squarely to his nose.

She spun around to see that it was the man with the black ball cap; although his hat now lay on the ground and he was clutching at his nose which was bleeding profusely.

Cricket threw two bills at his feet, the cut through till they hit bone and caused him to cry out and fall to his knees in pain. Cricket didn't stick around and instead ran and boarded the train. She ran to the cabin assigned to her and closed and locked the door. Moments later the train began to slowly pull out of the station. As Cricket looked out the window she saw the man still on the platform moaning in agony as people attended to him.

Cricket gave a sigh of relief. She was safe, for now. However she had been right to be paranoid. She was indeed being followed. Cricket knew that she was going to have to change her destination now.

* * *

"What do you mean you lost her?" Veronica asked angrily. "I want that girl back in Belle Reeve I don't care what it takes."

Veronica angrily hung up her phone.

"Tough day?" her father asked.

"Oh like you don't already know what's going on," Veronica responded angrily.

They were at their recently built mansion on the edge of Riverdale just sitting down for a late dinner. Just then Veronica's mother Hermione entered the dining room.

"Hello Veronica dearest," she greeted her daughter. "Hiram."

Veronica's parents didn't exactly have the best relationship. However the two remained together because a divorce was mutually assured destruction. Both knew secrets about the other that would result in situations neither wanted.

"I heard about your issues at work Veronica," Hermione said as she sat down. "If you need any help I'm happy to assist you."

Veronica looked across at her mother a little confused. Hermione didn't have any position within the company at except for holding a seat on the board, and she rarely attended board meetings. She spent most of her days going to spas or shopping or having lunch with the wives of other rich men.

"How do you know…?" Veronica asked.

"I know a great deal about what goes on in this company," Hermione replied. "I do control 50% of your father's shares after all. But unlike the rest of the board I also know about his off the books side projects like Belle Reeve."

Veronica was surprised by this revelation, but quickly composed herself.

"Thank you for the offer mother, but I have things under control," Veronica said.

"Very well," Hermione responded. "Shall we eat?"

The Lodges set down to eat. However Veronica couldn't help but wonder if there was more that either of her parents weren't telling her.

* * *

 _The battle between the Lodges and Betty is about to begin. Also Cricket is going to be a recurring character, at least for a little while. We also have the introduction of another potential enemy for Betty in Hermione Lodge. There will likely be a meeting between the two of them soon. Please review!_


	17. Chapter 16

**Chapter 16**

* * *

Betty arrived home from her day of digging. Her clothes were stained with dirt and her blonde hair was so dirty that it now looked brown.

"Ugh Betty you need a shower," her mother said the moment Betty entered the house.

"I know Mom," Betty said.

"Before you go upstairs give me those clothes," Alice said. "I'll put them in the wash. That way you won't be tracking dirt all over the house either."

"Alright," Betty said.

Betty stripped down to just her underwear and handed her dirty clothes to her mother. Alice took the dirty clothes downstairs, while Betty went upstairs to have a shower. She was just at the top of the stairs when the door to her own bedroom opened.

"Oh hey Betty," Jughead greeted her.

Betty instinctively covered herself with her hands, even though she was still wearing her bra and panties.

"Jughead!" she exclaimed.

Jughead looked his friends up and down and then shrugged.

"You're not showing me as much as Polly did," he commented.

"Just… turn around and go back in the room," Betty said through gritted teeth.

"Whatever," Jughead said as he went back in the room closing the door behind him.

Betty went into the bathroom and closed and locked the door. Most days she would have a quick shower, but today she felt like taking her time and enjoying it.

About twenty minutes later when she finally got out she came face to face with her father. She was glad that she was covered up with her towel.

"Are you trying to use up all the hot water?" he asked slightly annoyed.

"No, and come on I rarely take a long shower," Betty protested.

Betty went back to her and Polly's room to get changed. After she had gotten dressed she went over to her own room that Jughead was staying in and knocked on the door. Moments later Jughead answered.

"Oh, you're dressed now," he commented.

"Where's Polly?" Betty inquired.

"She and Dilton were going around pricing out trucks," Jughead replied.

"Ugh, I hope she doesn't talk him into something ridiculous," Betty said.

Jughead shrugged, just then there was the sound of a car horn from the driveway.

"Oh maybe that's them," Jughead said.

"Oh it is," Betty said rolling her eyes as she turned to head downstairs. "I can here Polly's giddy laughter from here."

"God that is weird," Jughead muttered as he followed behind her.

At the bottom of the stairs they ran into Alice and Hal who were both going to see who was in the driveway when the door flung open and Polly was standing there bouncing up and down on her toes in excitement with Dilton beside her not nearly as excited, but still smiling.

"Oh, oh, oh come on Betty, come see!" Polly said excitedly.

She grabbed Betty by the wrist and pulled her out of the wrist. Sitting in the driveway was a brand new bright red Dodge Ram 3500. It had the dual rear wheels, the full size cab, lots of chrome and a sunroof. Betty could only guess at what other accessories this truck had.

"I didn't think I was a truck girl," Polly said. "But I love it, I love it, I love it."

"This is a little much Dilton," Alice said.

"Betty's got a farm now, and since she doesn't have her license yet Polly gets the truck on the condition she helps out," Dilton explained.

"Still, it's… big," Hal said.

"Well she's going to be driving us to school Mr. Cooper," Jughead said. "Need to have room in there. And it's not like we won't be taking Sheila either."

"Speaking of Sheila…" Betty said.

She pointed and everybody turned to see Sheila running down the street.

"Ohmygod! Ohmygod! Ohmygod!" Sheila shrieked. "That was Polly driving the truck!"

Polly ran out to meet Sheila and the two of them jumped up and down excited.

"Wait… why are you driving the truck. And why a truck?" Sheila abruptly stopped and asked.

"Well Betty does have a farm now," Polly replied. "So we need a truck to do work on that farm."

"But I don't have a license yet." Betty added.

"Yeah but you can get that tomorrow," Sheila said.

"Yeah, but still, Polly actually needs a car too," Betty responded. "I'm fine with sharing. Besides she's going to be driving us to school. Oh, speaking of… PERMA-SHOTGUN!"

"D'oh," Jughead moaned.

"Okay well dinner is almost ready," Alice said. "We can all go out for a ride in the truck afterwards. Dilton, Sheila I'm sure your parents are expecting you for dinner too."

Betty, Polly and Jughead said their good-byes to Dilton and Sheila and then went inside.

At the dinner table Polly prattled on and on about all the various features on the truck. Several times she mentioned things that she didn't even know what they were, but she was excited about them none the less. After dinner they all went out to the truck and went for a drive out to the farm. Out at the farm Polly let everyone else take a turn driving. Hal went first and then Alice, then Jughead who had his learners permit and lastly Betty. It took Betty a little while to get used to the pedals since it was her first time driving but she eventually got it.

On the way back Alice ended up driving and she backed it into the driveway flawlessly as if she had been driving big trucks like this her entire life.

"How did you do that so well mom?" Betty asked.

"Yeah, that was impressive," Polly added

"Remember I did grow up on that farm," Alice replied. "My dad might not have had a truck quite as nice as this one, but he did have several pickup trucks, not to mention tractors."

"Oh," both Polly and Betty said feeling embarrassed for forgetting what should have been an obvious fact.

"You know I could use a truck like this for doing my errands and getting the groceries," Alice commented.

"No Mom, it's for me!" Polly protested.

"I'm just teasing," Alice said. "The van is more than enough."

It was dark out so they all went inside for the night.

* * *

Cricket had unfolded the bed in her small cabin for the night and was climbing in when one of the train attendants came by.

"Will you be needing anything else tonight miss?" she asked.

"No, just some privacy," Cricket replied a little brusquely.

The attendant moved on and Cricket turned off the light and lay down. Outside the country side was dark but she could vaguely make it out. There was the soft sound of the train clicking as it rode along the tracks. Cricket was beginning to rethink he opinion that train travel was overpriced. It was actually a bit like staying in a moving hotel and her meal had been included.

Cricket punched her pillow a few times to try and soften it up and then rolled onto her side and was looking out the window as she slowly began to drift off to sleep.

Cricket couldn't have been asleep long though when she awoke to a loud click noise. Her eyes sprang open and she could see in the reflection of the window that the door to her cabin was open. She rolled over quickly to see the silhouette of a man standing in the doorway. Cricket sprang up kicking at him as she got off the bed knocking him into the hallway. However the man was bigger and stronger than Cricket and he soon forced his way back up and pushed Cricket back into her cabin. The two of them struggled until he managed to get behind Cricket and tried to wrap his arm around her neck to try and choke her out.

Realizing she was on the verge of passing out Cricket resorted to her powers. She flung a razor bill along his arm cutting him and making him release her. But when she turned around he punched her right across the jaw. Instinctively Cricket flung another razor bill at him as she fell down onto the bed unconscious.

Cricket awoke to the sound of screaming, groggily she stood up and got to her feet to see the attendant standing just outside the room. At her feet was the body of the man that had attacked Cricket. He was lying with his eyes wide open and one of Cricket's razor bills embedded in his forehead.

"Oh shit!" Cricket cursed. "Shit! Shit! Fuck! Shit! Fuck!"

Thinking quickly Cricket pulled the man and the attendant into her cabin which made it rather cramped. She then clamped her hand on the attendant's mouth.

"Do you know who this guy is?" Cricket asked.

The attendant just stared at her fearfully.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I didn't want to hurt him but he attacked me," Cricket said. "So who is he?"

"I don't know, he got on at our last stop, he asked about you," the attendant said.

"Fuck…" Cricket muttered.

She realized that somebody was following her. Most likely it was Veronica as Betty had said. The guy at the station must have told somebody about which train she was on and they had boarded at the last stop.

"Look I can't really tell you what's going on, but suffice to say some bad people are after me," Cricket said. "Like this guy here."

The attendant looked at the dead man and then back at Cricket her eyes full of fear. Cricket quickly tried to come up with a plan.

"Okay, here's what needs to happen," Cricket said. "You go out there, let anybody else no that it was nothing and just go back to your job. When everybody is asleep I want you to come back here and we're going to dump his body of the train and clean up. It will be like he was never here okay?"

The attendant didn't respond but just stared at her.

"If you alert authorities then whoever he works for is going to come, or at least send others and they'll find you and find out what you know," Cricket said.

"But I don't know anything," the attendant pleaded.

"I know that," Cricket said. "But they won't and they'll want answers. And when you can't provide them…"

Cricket let the possible threat of violence linger.

"Okay, I'll help you," the attendant agreed.

Cricket let the attendant go and shoved the dead man's bodies up onto the lower bunk. She then climbed up onto the top bunk to try and get a little rest.

It was two hours before the attendant returned.

"Everybody is asleep," she said.

Together Cricket and the attendant dragged the corpse to one of the train's doors. The train was currently passing through the Laguna Off-Reservation Trust Land. It was miles and miles of typical south-western desert. They shoved the body off the train watching as it bounced several times before disappearing in the darkness as it rolled away.

"What are the next stops?" Cricket asked.

"Flagstaff, and then Kingman," the attendant answered.

Cricket actually knew about the small town of Kingman Arizona, it was located just south of Las Vegas. Vegas could actually be a place where she could use her abilities but could also be a good place to hide and remain anonymous. That was where she would get off.

* * *

Veronica was awoken by the sound of her phone going off. It was late at night, 3:30 am.

"What is it?" Veronica asked groggily as she answered her phone.

"We lost contact with out agent on the train," somebody said. "We suspect he may have been killed."

Veronica could remember his name it was Dave or Kevin or Steve, something with a v in the middle.

"Do you know if she's disembarked?" Veronica asked.

"No idea, we would assume so but it's going to be difficult to get somebody on the train until it almost in Los Angeles," the person on the other end replied.

"Look listen… Steve…" Veronica guessed.

"It's Evan," the man on the other end corrected her.

Veronica knew she had the V right.

"Whatever, that's not important," Veronica said. "What is important is finding Cricket and returning her to Belle Reeve. I don't care what it takes I want you to find her."

"Yes mam," Evan said.

Veronica then hung up her phone and lay back down. She was tired and she didn't want to deal with this right now. She wasn't even a week into her tenure as the Director of Belle Reeve and she was already finding it stressful.

Tomorrow though looked to be a better day. She was going to have a survey done to try and find different coloured shards of the meteor fragments. Hopefully she could get her hands on more of the red fragments so she could do some testing and perhaps even find some other colours. She also had to figure out another way to get to Betty Cooper. But that was for another day, tonight she just wanted to get some sleep.

* * *

 _That's probably the last we shall see of Cricket for a little while as she lays low. Betty will be trying to figure out what's going on exactly at Belle Reeve and Veronica will be continuing what she's been doing all story long. Please Review._


	18. Chapter 17

**Chapter 17**

* * *

"Alright here you go guys," Polly said.

She had just pulled up to Riverdale High in her new truck and she let Betty, Jughead, Sheila and Dilton out.

"Remember you have to pick me to take me to the DMV after school," Betty reminded Polly. "This truck isn't just for you."

"I know, I know," Polly said exasperated.

Betty had been reminding her all morning.

"As long as you remember," Betty said. "I'll text you at lunch and after school."

"Ugh," Polly groaned.

Betty closed the door and Polly drove off. Betty and her friends were heading into school when they were confronted by Cheryl who stood in their path, her brother behind her holding her bags.

"Uh, do you need something Cheryl?" Betty asked.

"Yes, but not from you," Cheryl replied.

She then looked directly at Sheila.

"Do you want to be a cheerleader?" Cheryl asked.

Sheila stood there for a moment before she started making some strange babbling noises. Cheryl frowned as she looked over at Betty.

"Is something wrong with her?" Cheryl inquired.

"YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!" Sheila began screaming crazily.

"I think that's a yes," Betty said. "She's wanted this more than anything."

Sheila began jumping around like a maniac waving her hands in the air as everyone watched.

"Well she does have spirit I guess," Cheryl commented.

Sheila began doing cartwheels as she screamed for joy.

"Uh, why did you ask her to join the team?" Betty asked.

"I had a bit of a falling out with Midge over the weekend," Cheryl said. "Long story short she's off the team and I need a replacement."

"Dare I ask what happened?" Betty inquired.

Cheryl glanced over her shoulder at Jason and frowned at him and then looked back at Betty.

"No, that's a little tidbit I intend to hold as leverage over her should she try anything," Cheryl replied.

Before Betty could ask another question Cheryl walked away with her brother leaving Betty standing there with Dilton and Jughead while Sheila continued to bounce around excitedly.

"Do you think it's a little rude how she treated us like we didn't even exist?" Jughead asked Dilton.

"I'm used to it, that's how most people treat me," Dilton replied.

"Come on Sheila we need to get to class," Betty called.

Sheila excitedly bounced behind them still giddy.

* * *

Lunch time came around and Sheila was still absolutely giddy, much to the chagrin of Betty, Dilton and Jughead. They were sitting at a table together in the corner of the cafeteria.

"Do you think now we can sit with the other cheerleaders?" Sheila asked. "I mean of course we can we're cheerleaders too."

"Sheila can you knock it off?" Jughead snapped as he was trying to eat his meal of five hot dogs.

"Oh come on Jughead," Sheila pouted.

"No, he's right," Betty said. "This is starting to get old."

"What… but Betty I…" Sheila start to say.

She stopped in mid-sentence however when she saw Cheryl approaching the table followed by her brother and Moose.

"Uh hi Cheryl," Betty greeted her.

"Ugh it's unseemly you sitting over here," Cheryl said. "Especially with the nerds."

"They're my friends remember?" Betty reminded her.

"Oh right," Cheryl said dismissively. "Anyway I'm not here to talk to you Betty, I'm here to talk with you Sheila."

Sheila just stared at Cheryl her mouth wide open in amazement.

"Please close your mouth, that looks disgusting," Cheryl stated.

"Sorry," Sheila mumbled closing her mouth.

"Anyway since Midge is no longer on the cheerleading squad she is not allowed to date a football player either, so that means that from now on Sheila, you and Moose here are boyfriend and girlfriend." Cheryl said.

Betty shook her head in disgust. She hated the whole cheerleader being paired with a football player thing. She didn't know Moose particularly well but he wasn't known as the nicest person; he'd been incredibly jealous about Midge threatening to beat up any boys who even talked to her and he wasn't a great student either with below average grades.

"Cheryl I don't think…" Betty started to say.

She was cut off by Sheila standing up and sticking her hand in her face. Sheila then walked up in front of Moose. The size difference between them was almost humorous as Moose was about 6'7" while Sheila was 5'2".

"This is the greatest day ever!" Sheila loudly exclaimed.

She then jumped up and latched onto Moose in a hug as he looked down at the diminutive Asian girl attached to his chest a little surprised.

"Hug her back you idiot," Cheryl hissed at him.

"Duh, oh," Moose said.

He hugged Sheila back and suddenly a round of applause erupted from the cafeteria. Cheryl turned around to face them all.

"Riverdale High may I present the newest it couple, Sheila Wu and Moose Mason!" Cheryl announced.

The student all continued to clap, although Betty, Jughead and Dilton were just watching confused and a little disgusted by the display. It all seemed so staged and fake.

As Betty looked around the cafeteria she noticed one other person not clapping. Seated all by herself near one of the fire exits was Moose's ex-girlfriend Midge Klump. The attractive girl with dark hair in a pixie cut was glaring daggers at Moose and Sheila, and probably Cheryl as well. Betty had never seen anybody look so hateful in her life.

Betty didn't really like Midge, she came across as rather self-absorbed and shallow; probably why she and Cheryl had once been close friends. But she couldn't help but feel somewhat sorry for her and the way that Cheryl was treating her. She wondered just what had happened between the two of them.

She was still wondering when the bell signalling the end of lunch sounded.

* * *

Midge stormed through the front door as she arrived home from school. She slammed the door shut behind her with enough force that it rattled the pictures hanging on the wall in the entrance way. Her parents both came to the door to see what was going on; her father Victor coming from his office, while her mother Amanda came from the kitchen.

"Midge honey what's wrong?" her mother asked.

"I don't want to talk about!" Midge replied angrily as she stomped into her room and slammed that door shut.

"Let's just let her cool off for a bit," Victor said to his wife. "We can talk to her once she's settled down."

Victor went back to his office and Amanda to the kitchen. As he sat in his desk staring blankly at the email he had been in the middle of typing he couldn't help but feel concern for his daughter. He looked down at a picture he had of himself and Midge on his desk from a few years ago when they had gone camping. The two didn't really look at all alike. Midge had dark hair and brown eyes while Victor had blond hair and blue eyes as Midge took after her mother in the looks department.

Upstairs he could here banging from Midge's room which was just above his office. He decided that perhaps this couldn't wait and he went upstairs and knocked on Midge's door.

"Go away!" Midge yelled from the other side of the door.

Victor ignored his daughter and opened the door.

"Midge honey, something is clearly bothering you," Victor said. "I think it would help if you talked about."

"What is there to say, Cheryl is replacing me," Midge replied.

"Replacing you?" Victor asked confused, he didn't understand the social structure at school's these days.

"She kicked me off the cheerleading squad, she broke me and Moose up and she then turned around and replaced me with that psycho Sheila Wu." Midge answered angrily.

"She can do that?" Victor inquired a bit surprised.

"Ugh, yes dad, Cheryl is only like the most popular girl at school she controls everything," Midge stated as if that should have been obvious.

"But I thought you two were friends, what happened?" Victor inquired.

"It was at that party on Saturday, it was…" Midge suddenly stopped midsentence.

"It was what?" Victor asked.

"The details aren't important," Midge said. "Basically I did something that Cheryl didn't want me to and all of sudden we can't be friends anymore, Moose can't be my boyfriend anymore and frankly nobody at school will even talk to me anymore. My life is ruined."

"Oh come on Midge I think you're being a little melodramatic," Victor said. "I mean there's no way Cheryl could have that much control. I'm sure you could make friends with other people."

"I don't want to associate with the geeks and losers," Midge complained. "But Cheryl is like the queen bee of the popular kids, they all do whatever she says."

Victor was suddenly hit with inspiration.

"The queen bee?" he asked.

"Yes sure the queen bee," Midge replied not sure why her father was fixating on that phrase.

Without another word Victor left the room heading back down to his office. He opened up the safe in his office and peered inside looking at the large numbers of shards of red meteor rock inside. He'd been saving it for a while but now he had an idea.

* * *

Veronica was sitting in her office. She had several teams out in Riverdale doing a search for fragments of the red meteor rock or any other colours that they could find. There had actually been some success as a team doing a dive in Jones' Pond had found a rather large fragment of the red meteor rock that was about the size of a football.

Just then she got notification that she had received an email. She opened it up on her tablet and read it to see that it was from one of her researchers, Victor Klump. She saw there was an attachment and when she opened it she saw what looked like dozens of shards of red meteor rock sitting in a safe. Veronica was curious and began reading the email.

In the e-mail Dr. Klump explained that he had found the fragments over the years while out on hikes and that he had kept them because they were only required to turn in green fragments as that is what all research was done with. He asked for permission to perform research with the fragments he had found on his current project.

Veronica set her tablet down and turned to her computer and looked up Dr. Klump's record. She quickly saw that he was a much more complex man than he appeared. His grandfather had been Johann von Klump, a notorious Nazi doctor who had been known to experiment on prisoners in concentration camps. His wife and children had fled from Germany and escaped to America right around the end of the war via Spain; they'd dropped the von from their name to avoid any association. Victor had attended Metropolis University and earned his doctorate in etymology. However he'd been unable to find work in the field at first and had been working several menial jobs to support his wife and daughter until he had been recruited to work at Belle Reeve. His family didn't know what he actually did here though and believed that he was an assistant director at a long term care facility. The majority of the researchers who worked here used the cover story that they worked at a long term care facility in some capacity.

His field of study was on the effect of meteor rocks on bugs. The majority of the projects had been busts; however his latest project had showed some promise. It had involved extracting the pheromones of a queen wasp and using the pheromones as a form of mind control; almost like an interrogation perfume. It hadn't shown success on humans but it had proven extremely potent in making dogs obedient.

Veronica considered, she wasn't entirely sure what the difference was between red and green meteor rocks. This seemed like a fairly controlled experiment that if successful could prove quite useful. She decided to allow him to do the experiment but he would only get to use the fragments that he had found and any that he didn't need she wanted turned in for other research. She typed up a reply email on her tablet and sent it back.

Just then she got another email, she looked at it and saw that it was a request to join her mother for dinner. Veronica was a little curious as ever since she had been a child her mother hadn't wanted to spend any time with her. So for Hermione to want to spend time with her daughter now was definitely a little suspicious.

However despite not really having much in common with her mother Veronica decided to join her for dinner anyway. If for no other reason today had been a successful day and she could go for a good meal and her mother always picked the best restaurants to eat at. She sent a reply to her mother and then began finishing things up so that she could leave.

* * *

 _A bit of a delay in an update thanks to the holiday season. I've been side tracked with family things going on and that will probably continue into the new year; I can't say when the next update will be. A new villain (or villainess) will be revealed soon._

 _There's also some artwork for the story coming soon as well. If you follow my deviant art account ( .com) you'll get a notification when it's up. If not I'll probably say here in the A/N of the update after it's been posted there._

 _Until then please review!_


	19. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

* * *

Veronica was shown to the table by the maître d', where her mother was already seated. The restaurant was otherwise completely empty. They were at a very popular five star restaurant called Skyline which was located on the top floor of one of the taller buildings in Metropolis.

"Thank you for sending the helicopter to pick me up mother, although I think it was a little much," Veronica said.

"What good is it being as wealthy as we are if we can't use it?" Hermione responded.

"Fair enough," Veronica agreed as she sat down at the table across from her mother.

The waiter offered a glass of wine for Veronica but she covered it with her hand.

"Just water please," she said.

The waiter nodded and the filled Hermione's glass before leaving to get Veronica's water.

"So what is this about mother?" Veronica asked.

"What a mother can't want to have dinner with her daughter?" Hermione asked innocently.

"A typical mother perhaps, but you're anything but typical mother," Veronica retorted.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Hermione said somewhat smugly.

"Can we just get to the reason you asked me here?" Veronica inquired.

"Very well," Hermione agreed. "I know that your father is up to something and it has to do with the research that you're doing at Belle Reeve. I'd like you to keep informed on the goings on."

Veronica was a little surprised. Not so much by her mother wanting to keep tabs on her father, the two were constantly suspicious of each other. More that she was interested in Belle Reeve which was different from her usual interest which was in bank accounts. From what Veronica had found the spending on Belle Reeve wasn't even a blip in the Lodge fortunes. Veronica's own fashion company had a large financial footprint.

"Why are you suddenly interested in what's being researched at Belle Reeve?" Veronica asked.

"I know about the human experiments there, the boy that gets stronger from absorbing electricity for example and the girl that can absorb money into her skin. It's all rather fascinating," Hermione said.

"So you want to know what's going on because it's fascinating?" Veronica asked incredulously.

"No, because it has potential," Hermione said. "I mean think about what these powers can be used for. We could increase our wealth tenfold but also we could obtain real power."

"Real power?" Veronica inquired quizzically.

"Yes the power to truly rule," Hermione said. "Forget the government. I'm certain that's what your father is planning."

Veronica couldn't disagree with her mother. Her father was excessively ambitious. However Veronica herself wasn't interested in toppling the government to take power herself. But she figured that by keeping her mother informed on Belle Reeve she could perhaps stop her parents as she was certain that neither one was interested in sharing power with the other.

"Alright mother," Veronica agreed. "I'll keep you up to date."

"Excellent! Now let's eat!" Hermione said.

* * *

Friday had come and it had been a rather strange week. Sheila had begun spending increasingly less and less time with Betty and her friends and instead hanging out with Cheryl and the other cheerleaders.

It was the end of the day and Betty was getting her things from her locker. As she turned around she saw Archie Andrews approach wearing his green meteor rock necklace and she suddenly slipped dropping her bag. Several students pointed and laughed and Archie barely glanced at her before continuing on.

However Jason Blossom appeared out of nowhere to help Betty pick her things up, which surprised her.

"Thanks," Betty said slowly, a little confused.

"You're welcome," Jason responded.

"I'm a little surprised you're not attached to your sister's hip," Betty said.

"I'm not always… never mind. Cheryl actually asked me to invite you to our house this Saturday as we're having a pool party," Jason said.

"Oh that's nice but no thanks," Betty replied. "I'm sure you heard that I recently came to own a farm and well I've got some farm work to do."

"That sounds interesting," Jason commented.

"Well if you want to come help out you can," Betty offered.

"What, no, no, no, Cheryl would never allow that," Jason said.

"You don't always have to do what Cheryl says you know," Betty said. "You are your own person."

Jason gave Betty a look as if she was crazy. Without another word he just shook his head and walked away.

"What was that about?" Betty muttered to herself before she turned to go meet up with Jughead and Dilton.

As she turned around however Betty bumped into somebody and accidentally knocked them to the ground. She looked down to see that it was Midge.

"Oh I'm so sorry," Betty apologized holding out her hand to help Midge up.

"Whatever," Midge said not taking Betty's hand but just getting up on her own.

"Look I don't know what happened between you and Cheryl but if you want to talk or something…" Betty offered.

"Yeah I don't want to talk about it," Midge said.

"Well do you want to maybe hang out?" Betty suggested. "I mean you seem lonely, my friends and I were about to head over to Pop's."

"That dumpy place? No." Midge refused. "And I wouldn't want to be caught dead in public with you and your friends."

"Look you seemed lonely I was just offering, there's no need to be rude," Betty said.

"Whatever, get out of my way," Midge said as she brushed past Betty.

Betty stared at her watching her leave.

"What a bitch," Betty commented shaking her head in disbelief.

Since Midge's fallout with Cheryl she had basically become a social pariah with all of her cheerleader friends and by extension much of the rest of the school. Betty wondered why she would refuse the friendship of anybody at this point. But then some people just are like that Betty figured as she went to meet up with Jughead and Dilton.

She met up and the three of them walked to Pop's. Sheila wasn't joining them because she was hanging out with Cheryl and the other cheerleaders. It was a little fortunate because that meant that Betty could talk with Jughead and Dilton about the parts of her life that Sheila didn't know about.

"I ran into Midge on my way out of the school," Betty mentioned. "I asked if she wanted to tag along with us to Pop's, you know because she seems lonely."

"I take it she declined," Dilton said.

"More than that, she said she didn't want to be caught dead in public with us, and that Pop's is a dump." Betty related.

"What a conceited bitch," Jughead commented. "You'd think that she'd be appreciative of somebody wanting to be nice to her."

"It's her loss," Betty said. "I'm not going to feel sorry for her anymore when I see her sitting alone in the cafeteria."

"Almost sounds like she's getting her come-uppance," Dilton stated. "Karma catching up to her and all that."

They had arrived at Pop's and went inside and sat down. A few minutes later they saw Maria come over tying on her apron.

"Hi guys, I just started my shift, sorry for the wait," Maria apologized.

"No problem we know exactly when you got off school," Jughead said with a chuckles.

"Here're some menus I'll be back in a few minutes to take your order." Maria said.

"So what do you guys want to do this weekend?" Betty inquired.

"Well I was planning on downloading and playing that new MMORPG all weekend," Jughead replied.

"Oh that sounds like fun!" Dilton exclaimed. "I might do that too, although I do have to make some time to deal with updates for my app…"

"Really? So neither of you want to help me out at the farm?" Betty asked.

"Well… there's not internet out there," Jughead said.

"Well that's because we need to fix the place up," Betty said. "Come on I could use your help and advice. And Polly has to work most of the weekend so she can't be around much…"

"Well I'm not much for manual labour," Dilton said. "But I'll help where I can."

"Ugh, fine," Jughead agreed. "But just for Saturday, I'm gaming on Sunday."

"Fair enough," Betty agreed.

* * *

The following day Betty was out at the farm with Dilton and Jughead. Polly had dropped them off earlier before heading to work. They'd spent the first hour going through the farm house looking it over. Dilton had studied up on home repair and he pointed out a multitude of things that would need to be addressed including wiring, plumbing and the possibility of asbestos. One thing that definitely needed to be dealt with was the kitchen which was unusable. It hadn't been used in years and all of the appliance were obsolete anyway. They decided to gut the kitchen.

After they'd gone through the cupboards and taken out any dishes and utensils that could still be used and thrown out anything that was garbage Betty set to work demoing the kitchen while Jughead and Dilton washed the dishes out at the barn.

Betty had just finished removing the counters and the stove and was in the process of removing the refrigerator which was probably built in the late 1950's. She was easily carrying the heavy appliance out the side door by herself when she heard Jughead shouting.

"Betty! Betty! There's a car coming!" Jughead yelled sounding worried.

Betty set the fridge down on the side porch and jogged to see a silver Audi A4 coming up the driveway. A few moments later Jughead was there standing beside her followed by Dilton.

"Who do you think it is?" Jughead asked. "Do you think it's the Lodges?"

"No, that car is not luxury enough for them," Betty said.

The car then came to stop a cloud of dust forming behind it.

"I guess we'll find out soon," Dilton commented.

The three of them watched as the driver turned the engine off and got out. Betty was a little surprised to see that it was Jason Blossom.

"What's he doing here?" Jughead asked incredulously.

"I wonder if he finally decided to ditch his sister like I suggested," Betty said. "I did invite him out here."

"What? Why?" Jughead asked.

Betty ignored his question and began walking towards Jason.

"You two stay there," Betty said over her shoulder.

She approached Jason who was slowly walking towards her as he looked around the farm.

"So this is all yours?" Jason asked sounding mildly impressed.

"Yep," Betty replied. "But what are you doing here Jason?"

"Cheryl insists that you attend her pool party," Jason answered.

"If Cheryl wants me to come she can come get me herself," Betty said.

"Actually she was going to, but I got her to let me come instead," Jason said. "I wanted to see the place for myself, and to be honest ever since that incident with Midge I've been looking for any excuse to get away from Cheryl."

"What happened there?" Betty asked.

"Well you know that new kid Kevin?" Jason asked.

"The one that start the gay right club?" Betty asked.

"Yes, well turns out he was a star receiver at his previous highschool on track for a division 1 college scholarship or something. But when he came out as gay his teammates essentially ran him off the team," Jason said. "Apparently he's decided not to play football anymore or something like that but my sister wanted me to try and convince him to join our football team."

"Wait… did she want you to pretend to be gay?" Betty inquired hoping that wasn't the case.

"Yes, but Midge ended up ruining the illusion. That's what the whole falling out was about," Jason said. "There was this party last weekend and she wanted me to try and seduce him. But I'm not into that sort of thing so I'd had a few… a lot… of drinks to try and work up the courage. Unfortunately Midge got to me first and she was pretty drunk herself; I don't really remember how things went down but we ended up getting found half-naked in the coat closet by Kevin which basically ruined my sister's plan. She says that Midge was intentionally sabotaging her, but I can't see why."

"That's all just really messed up," Betty said.

"You're telling me, I don't even like Midge," Jason said.

"Well I'm glad you came, even if it was at your sister's suggesting," Betty said.

"Well the only reason I even came was because of what you said to me yesterday," Jason said. "That I need to stop doing everything Cheryl tells me to do."

"Good, I'm glad to hear that," Betty said.

"Nobody's ever given me the courage to stand up to Cheryl before," Jason stated. "And…"

Betty looked at him waiting for him to finish the sentence. Jason just stood there fidgeting.

"And what?" Betty asked when Jason didn't say anything.

"There's something I want to ask but I don't know…" Jason stammered.

"Don't know what?" Betty inquired.

"Betty Cooper do you want to go out with me?" Jason asked.

Betty stared at him in shock. Behind her she could hear the surprised gasps from Dilton and Jughead who were clearly eavesdropping. Betty wasn't sure what to say, for years she had held a big crush on Archie Andrews from afar; she'd dismissed Jason as nothing but Cheryl's lackey.

" I… um…" Betty stammered as she struggled for response.

* * *

 _Is Jason sincere in his feelings for Betty or is this an elaborate manipulation of Cheryl's? And just how does Betty feel? She's long had a crush on Archie from afar but how will she respond to Jason? And how will this affect her personal life? Many questions to be answered in the next chapter. Also what's going on at Belle Reeve? And in the near future we'll find out what happened with Cricket. Please read and review!_


	20. Chapter 19

**Chapter 19**

* * *

"I… uh…" Betty stammered as she stared at Jason her mouth slightly agape.

Jason had just done what was the highschool equivalent of popping the question. Betty was having difficulty processing it all. For as long as she could remember she'd had a crush on Archie Andrews, but there were plenty of things standing between the two of them, not the least of which was the meteor rock pendant he always wore. Betty had never had a boyfriend thinking she'd wait for Archie, but here was another boy asking her.

"Betty? Are you alright?" Jason asked.

"Sorry, it's just, I've never actually dated anybody before," Betty apologized.

"I find that hard to believe a girl as pretty as you…" Jason said.

"Well I don't run in the same social circles," Betty said.

"But to be honest I know what you mean," Jason said. "I've never really dated anybody either, or at least not one that wasn't set up by my sister."

"You're kidding, you let run your life that much?" Betty asked in shock.

"Well, not anymore," Jason said with some confidence.

"But why would you let her in the first place?" Betty asked.

"She had me convinced for years that because she was the older twin she got to boss me around," Jason said. "By the time I found out that wasn't true well I was so used to it…"

"Your parents didn't stop her?" Betty inquired a little surprised.

"You know my parents, the whole town does; you think they had time to pay attention to us?" Jason retorted.

Jason and Cheryl's parents, Penelope and Clifford Blossom were two successful real estate agents. They practically had a monopoly on the real estate business in Riverdale. They seemed to spent endless amounts of time advertising their business. Pictures of them were on every bus stop bench in Riverdale; which admittedly was only about ten but in the small town it made them the closest thing the town had to a local celebrity.

"My parents didn't pay much attention to us, we were left in the care of nannies that barely spoke English," Jason explained.

"That's kind of sad," Betty commented.

"But you still haven't answered my question," Jason said.

Betty held her hand up as she considered for a moment. There was clearly more to Jason than she had thought, and it seemed that he genuinely liked her. There was the possibility that he had been put up to this by Cheryl but Betty's gut feeling told her that this wasn't anything like that. And Jason was actually quite good looking, he was tall and with reddish-brown hair and sparkling green eyes. The only reason that girls weren't all over him was they didn't want to risk ending up on Cheryl's bad side. But that wasn't something Betty was worried about.

"Yes," Betty finally answered.

"Great!" Jason exclaimed excitedly. "So um… do you want to go do something?"

"Well, I was kind of in the middle of something here," Betty said.

"Oh right the farm stuff. Do you want some help?" Jason offered.

"Uh, no we're just about done here actually," Betty said. "How about we meet up at Pop's later, say five o'clock? It can be our first date."

Jason's eyes went wide with surprise then he nodded eagerly.

"You got it!" he exclaimed happily as he ran back to his car. "I'll see you at five!"

Betty gave a small wave as she watched him race down the drive way and back into town.

"So you're ditching us to date Jason Blossom?" Jughead said once Jason was gone.

"Oh come on, you and Dilton wanted to play that online game thing," Betty responded. "Now you get to."

"You're not worried about Cheryl?" Dilton inquired.

"What's she going to do? Kick me off the cheerleading squad like she did to Midge?" Betty replied. "To be honest I was never that enthused about joining in the first place. And I'll still have you two as my friends. Besides if I wanted to I could really make her life miserable."

"I don't want to know," Jughead said holding up his hands. "But I think dating Jason is a bad idea."

"To be fair you think that dating in general is a bad idea Jughead," Dilton said.

"Which is why dating Jason is a bad idea," Jughead stated.

"Let's finish up and we'll head back into town," Betty said. "Thanks for your help today guys."

They finished up what they were doing and Betty's father came out to the farm to pick them up since Polly was still at work with the truck.

* * *

It was 4:15 when Polly arrived home from work. Jughead was in Betty's room yelling something about staying in formation as he played his online game while Betty was in Polly's room trying to figure out what to wear.

"Hey Betty," Polly said as she entered the room. "What's up?"

"Not much, trying to pick out an outfit for my date," Betty replied.

"What!?" Polly shouted so loud the whole house probably heard her.

"Polly keep it down up there!" Hal yelled from downstairs.

"So who is the lucky guy?" Polly asked in a normal tone.

"Jason Blossom," Betty replied.

"As in the twin brother of Cheryl?" Polly inquired disbelievingly.

"The one in the same," Betty replied.

"Okay, I'm going to need some details here," Polly said as she sat on the bed.

"I don't have time," Betty replied. "I'm meeting up with him at Pop's at five for our first date so I need to get ready."

"Ugh fine I'll help you get ready, but I want to know everything when come home tonight," Polly stated.

"If I come home to night," Betty responded with a smirk.

"Oh come on Betty you and I both know you're not that kind of girl," Polly said.

Polly walked over the closet and opened it up and looked inside.

"So what kind of look are you going for?" Polly asked. "What do you want it to say?"

"I want something casual, but something that says I care about this," Betty replied.

Polly flicked through the closet and then tossed some clothes to Betty.

"Put those on," Polly said.

Betty got dressed; Polly had given her a pair of skinny-fit denim capris and a white blouse with light blue horizontal stripes that had a deep V-neck. Betty looked at herself in the mirror while Polly also looked on nodding her approval.

"It just needs the right shoes…" Polly muttered as she went back to the closet and searched.

She pulled out a pair of strappy sandals that had some light blue bows above the toes. Betty put them on.

"Eh I don't know, the bows are a little much," Betty said.

"They can come off," Polly said.

Betty reached down and saw that bows could indeed be detached. She pulled them off and gave them to Polly.

"That's better," Betty said. "Thanks Polly!"

"Well good luck," Polly said. "And remember I want every last detail."

"We'll see," Betty said as she left the room and went downstairs.

"Bye Mom, Bye Dad, going out," Betty called as she went to the front door.

"Where to?" her father asked appearing from the living room.

"Oh, just a little date," Betty said innocently.

"Oh really, who with?" her father asked suspiciously.

"Jason Blossom," Betty replied.

"I haven't met this boy before…" Hal said.

"Dad I can take care of myself, probably better than any other girl in the world," Betty interrupted him. "Besides we're just meeting for dinner at Pop's. It's not like anything could really happen."

Hal frowned. He knew that Betty was perfectly capable of handling herself, but he couldn't help but feel protective; especially when it came to boys.

"Have fun Betty," Alice called from the kitchens.

"Thanks Mom!" Betty replied as she headed out the door.

"I want you back no later than nine!" Hal called as she left.

"Ten," Betty called back as she closed the door.

* * *

Betty cut through the parking lot at Pop's on her way to the diner. She was so focused that she didn't noticed Jason get out of his car almost right beside her.

"Betty!" he called out.

Betty turned around surprised.

"Oh, you're here!" Betty said.

Jason was wearing a plain black dress shirt with no tie and matching pants. Betty couldn't help but think he looked rather sharp.

"Where else would I be?" Jason asked.

"I… don't know," Betty replied. "You caught me off-guard is all."

Jason chuckled a bit.

"Shall we?" he asked holding out his hand.

Betty took his hand slightly hesitantly and then the two of them walked into the diner hand in hand. They were greeted inside by Maria.

"Hi Betty, Hi… Jason?" Maria greeted them surprised to see the two of them together.

"Table for two please," Jason said.

Maria seemed to still be in shock as she showed them to an empty table. As they made their way to the table Betty noticed that the eyes of almost everyone in the diner were on them. She could also hear their whispering, a lot of them were confused as to why Betty and Jason were together. Maria handed them menus before hurrying off, probably to send off some text messages or a Facebook update, Betty guessed.

"So what's good here?" Jason asked.

"Uh, it's all good," Betty replied.

Betty noticed that Midge was at the diner, despite saying that it was a dump and she wouldn't be caught dead there. She was sitting in a booth with a man who Betty was quite certain was her father. She noticed Midge glaring angrily at her and Jason.

"Uh… Midge is here," Betty said quietly.

"Where?" Jason asked glancing around.

"Don't look," Betty said. "She's staring at us, I think she's upset about something."

"She probably blames me for what happened between her and Cheryl," Jason said.

"Well I wouldn't worry about it," Betty said.

"Yeah, let's not worry about Midge or anyone else here," Jason agreed. "Let's focus on having a good date."

* * *

Midge glared across the diner at Betty and Jason.

"Midge honey, are you alright?" her father asked.

"No daddy I'm not alright," Midge replied.

He glanced over his shoulder at the couple that his daughter was staring at.

"Do you know them?" he asked.

"That's Betty Cooper and she's here with Jason Blossom," Midge said her voice dripping with venom.

"Cheryl's brother?" her father asked.

"Yes," Midge replied not taking her eyes off of Jason and Betty.

"Is something the matter?" Victor asked.

"Look at them just sitting there, flaunting that they're together," Midge grumbled.

"Why do you care, wasn't your boyfriend Moose?" Victor inquired confused.

"Well yes but that's because that's who Cheryl assigned to me," Midge replied. "But I've always liked Jason."

Victor scratched his head in confusion. He so did not understand the social dynamics of teenagers these days.

"But what really irks me is that apparently Betty is allowed to date him," Midge continued. "Even though I've been Cheryl's friend for years; it's so unfair."

"Not to be insulting dear, but maybe Jason likes Betty more than you," Victor suggested.

"Ugh, please dad," Midge responded. "How could he possibly like that more than me?"

Victor sighed, he wasn't about to get into an argument with his daughter about personal preferences such as blondes versus brunettes. But clearly this was making her miserable; fortunately there was something he could do about it.

"Midge what if I told you that there was a way for you to have any boy you wanted?" Victor asked.

"I'd say you're delusional," Midge answered.

"I'm serious," Victor responded.

"Really? And how would you do that exactly?" Midge asked.

"I've been working on an experiment using wasp pheromones, adapting them for human use," Victor explained. "In theory any boy who smells them would become instantly attracted to you."

"What are you talking about dad? You work at that place for the mentally ill," Midge said. "I think they might be getting to you."

"I went to school for etymology and my dissertation was about how the queen wasp controls the hive through the use of pheromones," Victor explained.

"Sounds boring," Midge said. "Can we go? The food here all smells disgusting."

"Fine," Victor agreed.

A s they got up and left he saw that Midge was still glaring at Betty and Jason. He couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at how ungrateful his daughter seemed to be acting as well as insulted at how she didn't believe that his experiment with wasp pheromones was real. Well he would show her. Then maybe Midge would finally show some gratitude.

* * *

 _Not sure if anybody was really expecting a Betty/Jason relationship to actually happen, but it has. But whether Cheryl is okay with it, or if Midge might do something, well that will be coming up. Up next is the conclusion of the date and an update on Cricket's adventures. Please read and review._


	21. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

* * *

Betty and Jason watched as Midge stormed out of the diner followed by her father. They both noticed the death glare that Midge was giving them on her way out.

"What was that about?" Betty asked.

Jason shrugged confused himself.

"Who cares? Let's not let it ruin our first date," Jason said.

Just then there was a crash from the adjacent table as Maria who had been bringing drinks to that table had dropped her tray in shock. Jason and Betty looked over at the table to see Maria as well as the two patrons who were also students at Riverdale High, Bobbi Suarez and Tono Diaz, were all staring at them in disbelief.

"You're dating?" Bobbi asked.

Both Betty and Jason gulped visibly. Bobbi was a notorious gossip and even had her own gossip column in the school newspaper. Neither of them wanted the scrutiny that would come from Bobbi Suarez announcing their relationship to the whole school.

"It's our first date," Jason said. "But if you're intent on blabbing about it to the whole school then that's probably going to ruin it and make it our last date too."

Bobbi and Jason stared at each other for a long moment.

"Fine, but I want an exclusive interview with your sister about what happened between her and Midge," Bobbi said.

"I can arrange for you two to talk, but I can't promise she'll tell you what you want to know," Jason responded.

"That's enough, I can get her to talk," Bobbi said.

"Your funeral," Jason said. "We've got a deal."

He turned to Maria.

"Do you think maybe we could get a booth so we have some privacy?" Jason asked.

"Uh, I, uh, yes," Maria stammered apparently still surprised that Jason and Betty were on a date.

She led them over to the booth where Midge and her father had been sitting. She wiped off the table before they sat down and went off to serve her other customers.

"Sorry about all of that," Jason apologized once they were alone.

"It's not your fault," Betty said.

"I know you don't like all this attention, I remember how uncomfortable you looked at that medal ceremony," Jason said. "I could have chosen somewhere a little more private."

"It's fine really," Betty said. "Besides I love this place. I come here all the time with my sister and my friends."

"So what are you ordering?" Jason asked as he looked at his menu.

"I'm think of getting the all-day breakfast," Betty replied. "Kind of hungry after all that work on the farm today."

"How's the steak here?" Jason asked.

"My dad loves it," Betty replied. "You should get it with the garlic mashed potatoes. They go so well together."

"Sounds good," Jason said.

Just then Maria came to take their order. Jason ordered the steak as Betty had recommended and Betty ordered the all-day breakfast with scrambled eggs and white toast.

"So Betty, tell me something interesting about yourself that I might not know," Jason said as they waited for their food.

Betty stifled a laugh at the question. There was a lot that Jason didn't know about her, she thought to herself; and she certainly wasn't about to reveal those secrets.

"Like what?" Betty asked trying to stall for some time to think of something.

"Like what do you want to be?" Jason asked.

"I've long wanted to be a writer," Betty replied.

"Like a journalist or a novelist?" Jason inquired.

"Both if I could," Betty answered. "I like all types of writing. But what about you?"

"What about me?" Jason asked.

"What do you want to be?" Betty inquired.

"It might seem a little corny, but I've always kind of wanted to be a police officer," Jason replied.

"That's not corny that's admirable," Betty said. "Plus I think you'd look good in a uniform."

"I know right," Jason agreed.

"You know it's only September, but why don't we both be police officers for Halloween," Betty suggested.

"That's a great idea!" Jason exclaimed.

They chatted for a little while more about what good places were to get costumes until Maria returned with their food. They were about half-way through eating when they heard the door to the diner fling open.

"Where is he?" came the angry voice of Jason's sister Cheryl.

As Betty watched Jason slowly slunk down in his seat nervously like he was trying to hide under the table. However Cheryl quickly spotted Betty and stormed over to their booth.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" Cheryl asked angrily.

"Cheryl I…" Jason began to reply.

"I wasn't asking you Jason," Cheryl cut him off crossly, she then stared at Betty.

It's wasn't Betty's initial instinct to make a spectacle of the situation, but since Cheryl seemed determined to Betty decided to oblige her. Betty stood so that she was face to face with Cheryl, the two girl's just inches apart from each other.

"Is something the matter?" Betty asked calmly.

"Yes, you're here, with my brother, instead of being at my pool party this afternoon," Cheryl said.

"Pool parties aren't really my thing," Betty stated with a shrug. "And I like your brother and he likes me so I don't see what the problem is there."

Betty was so close she could see Cheryl's jaw clench. Clearly Cheryl had expected Betty to be thrown off simply by the fact that Cheryl had confronted her; Cheryl was used to intimidating people with her mere presence. But Betty wasn't one to easily be intimidated. The two girls continued to stare at each other for a several moments as the entire diner silently watched them.

Finally Cheryl took a breath and then looked down at her brother.

"So you like her Jason?" Cheryl asked.

Jason stared nervously up at his sister and just nodded.

"Alright, fine," Cheryl said looking back at Betty. "But you hurt my brother and you and I are going to have a big problem."

"Alright then," Betty agreed.

The two girls stared at each other for another moment before Cheryl turned and walked out of the diner without another word. As soon as Cheryl was gone Betty could feel the eyes of everybody in the diner staring at her. She quickly sat down again and looked across the table at Jason who had a surprised expression on his face.

"What the hell just happened?" Jason asked in disbelief.

"I think Cheryl gave us her blessing, or well her version of it," Betty replied.

"Yeah but why?" Jason asked.

"Maybe Cheryl cares more about you than she lets on," Betty answered.

"I'm not going to lie, if that's the case then this is possibly the best date ever," Jason said.

Betty didn't respond but just smiled.

They finished their meal and when Maria brought the bill Jason paid.

"So do you want to go see a movie?" Jason asked.

"Dinner and a movie? Isn't that a little cliché?" Betty replied.

"Do you not like cliché?" Jason inquired.

"I don't mind it, but I prefer spontaneity," Betty said.

"Spontaneity, alright," Jason said. "Then come with me."

He got up and held out his hand. Betty looked up at him for a moment before taking his hand and letting Jason lead her outside to his car. He opened the passenger side door for Betty and helped her in before getting in himself.

"Where are we going?" Betty asked.

"You'll see," Jason replied.

They drove around for quite a while, seemingly in circles. Betty noticed that the sun was starting to get low in the sky. Finally Jason pulled down a road which Betty realized was for Pembrooke Golf and Country Club, a rather exclusive club on the north-west side of town.

"What are we doing here?" Betty asked.

"You'll see," Jason replied cryptically.

They pulled into the parking lot, there weren't a great many cars since most golfing was done for the day. Jason got out and quickly ran around to open Betty's door for her. He then took her hand and led her over to the golf carts. They got in one and Jason began driving it out onto the course.

"Okay what are we doing?" Betty asked curiously.

"You'll see soon," Jason answered with a slight smile.

She noticed that they had gone off the course and were driving up a hill. When they reached the top Jason stopped the cart and put on the parking break.

"Um, Jason what…?" Betty asked confused.

"Look," Jason said pointing forward.

Betty finally realized that the sun was setting before their eyes. From up on this hill they could make out the silhouette of the water tower from the nearby town of Greendale.

"Oh wow… it's… it's beautiful," Betty said.

She felt Jason's hand reach over and grasp hers. They sat there just holding hands for the next few minutes as they watched the sun slowly sink below the horizon.

"Wow that was really amaz…" Betty began to say.

She was cut off as Jason suddenly leaned across and kissed her on the lips. Betty was surprised at first but soon began kissing back. The two of them kissed for several minutes before they finally broke it off.

"Wow…" Betty breathed. "That was... just wow!"

"Thanks," Jason said. "I'll admit I've had some practice."

"Well you certainly made my first kiss memorable," Betty commented.

"Really that was your first kiss?" Jason asked surprised.

Betty nodded.

"If I'd known that I would have made it more special," Jason said.

"No that was perfect," Betty said. "I thinking trying to make it more special probably would have ruined the moment."

"You have a point there," Jason agreed. "So are there any other firsts you want to cover this evening?"

"Not tonight," Betty replied with a chuckle. "We'll see how things go though."

"Still want to see a movie?" Jason asked.

Betty glanced at the time on her phone.

"I told my dad I would be home by ten," Betty said. "I don't think there's time for a movie."

"But you're not ready to call it a night just yet?" Jason asked.

"If you've got something we can do…" Betty said.

"Do you like to golf?" Jason asked.

Betty shrugged, "I've never tried it before," she answered.

"Well why don't we hit the driving range?" Jason suggested.

"Sure, I'm willing to give it a try," Betty said.

Jason started the cart back up and they drove back down. They stopped beside his car and Jason opened the trunk and got his golf clubs out, they then drove over to the driving range.

There were buckets already filled with range balls available and Jason grabbed one as they walked out to the range. There was only one other person there hitting balls.

"So have you ever swung a golf club before?" Jason asked.

"No, but how hard can it be?" Betty asked.

"It's trickier than you think," Jason replied.

"Well let me try," Betty said.

Jason reached into his bag and pulled out a club and handed it to her. Betty looked at it and then at the clubs in his bag.

"Why can't I use that big one?" she asked pointing at the club with the largest head.

"That's my driver, that's actually one of the hardest to learn to hit straight." Jason answered. "You should always start learning to swing with the irons since those are the clubs you use most during a round."

"Okay, what's this 5 on here mean?" Betty asked.

"That's just to show the loft on the club, the higher the number the more loft it has," Jason explained.

"Okay, give me a ball and let me try this," Betty said.

Jason dropped a ball onto the pad and Betty took a stance as she lined up to swing.

"Okay, now lock your pinky and your index finger," Jason said. "And bend your knees a little."

Betty did as he suggested.

"Now just take a nice and easy back swing keeping your eye on the ball and then swing, but remember keep your eye on the ball the whole time," Jason advised her.

Betty brought the club back. She was a little nervous about possibly hitting the ball too hard, the last thing she wanted to do was smack the ball an impossible distance. But it was dark out so if she did make such a mistake then it could probably be explained away as having lost sight of the ball.

Betty swung down at the ball, but the club only hit the top of the ball smacking it down into the ground. The ball bounced up into the air and hit the metal roof of the shelter that covered the tee boxes. Betty let go of the club with one hand and snagged the ball out of midair before it could hit her.

"Nice reactions," Jason commented.

"Sorry," Betty apologized.

"Don't worry about it, you just hit the top of the ball," Jason said. "Happens even to the pros. Just try again."

Betty dropped the ball and took her stance once more. She took a deep breath and then swung again. This time she solidly connected with the ball and it sailed out but then began curving to the right till she lost sight of it.

"Uh…" Betty said wondering if she'd done something wrong.

Jason let out a low whistle.

"That was a wicked slice," he commented.

"Slice?" Betty asked.

"When the ball curves to the right like that," Jason said. "It means you sort of opened your hands as you made contact and put a spin on the ball that made it curve that way. You want to try and keep your wrists as stiff and straight as possible through contact. But you made good contact, you hit it pretty far."

Jason dropped another ball so she could try again. Betty lined up and took another swing. This time the ball flew straight and true landing about 160 yards down the range.

"Nice!" Jason commented patting her back. "That was extremely good for a beginner. Let's see if you can do that again."

Betty quickly was able to figure out how hard to hit the ball, but the trick was to make sure she didn't always hit it perfectly, which was quite easy for her. For the next hour she and Jason both hit balls down the range, laughing at each other's major mistakes; Jason more so at Betty's even if they were intentional. She didn't want to emasculate him by showing off how good she actually was.

At about 9:30 they finally stopped and went back to Jason's car and Jason drove her home. Betty and Jason kissed good night, it wasn't quite as long or passionate as their kiss up on the hill had been; and then Betty walked up the driveway to her house. As she got to the front door she could hear that Jughead was still yelling at his video game.

When she stepped inside she saw her father was waiting by the door.

"You have 27 seconds to spare missy," Hal said.

"Oh knock it off Hal," Alice called from the living room. "How was your evening dear?"

"It was great, a lot of fun," Betty said. "We had dinner at Pop's then we went to the country club to watch the sun set and then we hit balls at the driving range."

"Golf?" Hal asked a little surprised.

"Yeah, it's surprisingly easy," Betty said. "For me I mean, the hard part is trying to not be so good."

"Of course," Hal grumbled.

Hal had a bag of golf clubs in the garage, but about half the clubs in the bag were broken from when he had smashed them after a bad shot. He hadn't gone golfing in several years because he couldn't afford to keep buying new clubs, and he had been advised to avoid things that made him angry.

"Hmm, well I guess this boy doesn't sound that bad," Hal said as he went back to the living room.

"Well I'm going to go to bed," Betty announced. "Good night."

"Good night," her parents both said.

Betty went upstairs. Polly was in the room sitting on her bed texting with one of her friends.

"So how was your date?" Polly asked.

"It was interesting," Betty replied.

"Tell me all about it," Polly said. "And remember our deal, I want every last detail."

Betty flopped down onto her bed and then began regaling her elder sister with every detail of her date with Jason, from dinner, to her first kiss, to the driving range. The story went well into the night.

* * *

A few blocks away a family was unpacking after a busy day of moving. The father was unpacking boxes in the living room/dining room while the mother was in the kitchen putting dishes away in their places in the cupboard. Just then the doorbell rang.

"Barry that's probably the pizza guy!" the father called. "Could you get that?"

Upstairs their son Barry, a slightly shorter than average teen with brown hair was setting up his room.

"Where's your wallet so I can pay him?" Barry asked.

"It's on top of the boxes near the door," his father replied.

In an instant Barry was downstairs at the door cash in hand. He opened the door to see the pizza guy standing there, he looked to be about the same age as Barry.

"Hey, did you guys just move in?" the pizza guy asked.

"Yeah why?" Barry responded.

"Just curious, welcome to Riverdale," the pizza guy said handing him the boxes. "My name's Adam Chisholm."

"Barry Allen," Barry replied taking the pizza.

"You going to be attending Riverdale High?" Adam asked.

"Yeah, starting Monday," Barry answered.

"Cool, well see you there," Adam said heading back to his car.

"Wait, I need to pay you for the pizza," Barry called out.

"Consider it a housewarming gift," Adam shouted as he hopped in his beat up Honda Civic hatchback.

Barry waved good-bye before closing the door. He then opened the lid and took a deep whiff of the pizza.

" I'm gonna like this town," Barry commented to himself.

* * *

 _A new arrival in Riverdale is sure to make things interesting. And Betty and Jason seem to be pretty serious after just one date. Will Bobbi Suarez keep her word, and what will happen between Betty and new student Barry Allen (because we all know something will). We shall find out. Please read and review._


	22. Chapter 21

**Chapter 21**

* * *

Morning came on Sunday and after getting dressed and having breakfast Polly offered to drive Betty out to the farm so that she could take a look at how the renovations were progressing before she had to go to work.

It was now a little bit afternoon and Betty decided to take a break and eat the lunch that her mother had packed for her. Betty had spent the morning stripping the walls of the farmhouse of the old floral patterns wallpaper that was in just about every room.

Betty was sitting on the swinging bench on the covered front porch looking out towards the road as she ate a tuna salad sandwich when she saw a red convertible with a driver with familiar red hair come racing along the main road and turn down the driveway heading towards the farmhouse. The car came skidding to a stop and the driver got out of the car.

"What are you doing here Cheryl?" Betty asked not getting of the porch.

Cheryl didn't reply and just approached the house walking up onto the porch and finally stopped when she was standing right in front of Betty.

"Didn't we go through this yesterday?" Betty asked as the whole scenario seemed quite similar to when Cheryl had stormed in on her and Jason during their date.

"We did, but Jason was there as well as other people," Cheryl said. "Now it's just the two of us."

Betty gave an exasperated sigh.

"Fine Cheryl, what do you want to know?" Betty asked.

"I spent hours talking to my brother last night, and despite anything I said it seems that he truly does like and care for you," Cheryl said.

"Well that's good to hear," Betty commented.

"Not necessarily," Cheryl said; "Because if you don't feel the same you are in for a world of misery."

Betty blinked in surprise as she looked up at Cheryl.

"Oh my gosh, you really care about your brother," Betty stated in some disbelief.

"Of course I do," Cheryl said as if that should have been obvious.

"I'm sorry it's just the way you always seem to treat him like your own personal servant, it almost seems like you enjoy humiliating him because you don't like him," Betty said.

Cheryl stared at Betty for a moment clearly thinking something over. Suddenly the stern expression from her face vanished and she sighed.

"Mind if I sit?" Cheryl asked.

Betty slid to one side so Cheryl could also sit on the bench. Cheryl sat there looking down at the ground for a while as Betty watched her for a long moment.

"I'm going to tell you something, but I don't want you to repeat it to anybody," Cheryl said. "Not even Jason."

Betty was a little curious as to what Cheryl was going to say.

"You've got my word," Betty promised.

Cheryl held out her pinky.

"Swear on it?" Cheryl asked.

Betty looped her pinky through Cheryl's and nodded.

"I swear," Betty replied.

Cheryl lowered her hand and sighed.

"When we were really young Jason and I were the only friends we had," Cheryl said. "Our parents didn't bother to really socialize us with other kids, they were too busy with their shameless self-promoting. We didn't really get to meet other kids until we were in kindergarten."

Betty nodded as she listened wondering where this was going.

"In kindergarten the other kids all really wanted to be Jason's friend, especially the boys," Cheryl said. "I know he told you about how I convinced him that the younger twin has to do whatever the older one says, and that's when I began using that on him. It made all the other kids not want to be his friend and made Jason closer to me. I guess you could say I was jealous."

Betty was intrigued by Cheryl's honesty.

"As the years went on I grew used to Jason's… I guess you could almost call it devotion," Cheryl continued. "I cared about my brother and I liked how he did what I asked. I felt like I couldn't tell him that he didn't have to do everything I said. Eventually he figured it out himself but by then I guess it had become second nature to him. Then I hit puberty and well… I think we can both agree it's been good to me."

Betty nodded, there was no point denying that Cheryl was extremely beautiful; slim and well-endowed. There was a reason she was so popular.

"That was when I began to get popular, that's when my upbringing kicked in. I had watched my parents for years and their self-promotion so I did the same, that's why I'm so popular," Cheryl said. "And like them I don't want to give up anything I've earned from all of that, that's what's led to my ruthless attitude."

Betty fidgeted feeling a little uncomfortable as this was getting quite personal.

"I could spend hours going over every little thing that has made me the way I am, but that's not why I'm telling you this," Cheryl continued. "This is really more about Jason. Even now I'm jealous of other people getting close to him, and I do what I can to scare them away. But it's also because I don't want them to hurt him. I was intending to do the same to you, but after I talked with Jason I realized that breaking you up would actually hurt him just as much if you not more than anything you could do."

Betty blinked in surprise, still speechless.

"So I guess what I'm trying to say is that as long as you have good intentions for my brother, I'm fine with you seeing him," Cheryl said.

"Wow…" Betty commented. "I didn't realize how much you actually cared for your brother. I mean the way I see you treat him at school…"

"It's all a cover to protect my reputation," Cheryl said. "I mean you know the other cheerleaders, they'd do whatever they can to take my place. Midge was never my best friend, she was closest rival."

"How can you stand to live like that?" Betty asked.

"Like I said, I've done it so long I'm just used to it," Cheryl said. "Can I tell you something else, but you have to promise not to get mad?"

"Why would I get mad?" Betty asked.

"Because it's about you," Cheryl answered.

Betty was just confused.

"Yeah, I won't get mad," Betty said.

"The whole reason I asked you to be on the cheerleading team, it wasn't because we needed a second blond girl, that was just an excuse I made up," Cheryl said.

"Okay, it seemed a little weak at the time," Betty said. "So what?"

"The whole reason I wanted you on the team was so that I could befriend you and then kick you off," Cheryl said.

"Why would you want to do that?" Betty asked.

"I don't know if you realize this, but along with myself you're one of the most attractive girls at the school. And you don't even really seem to work at it either, you rarely wear makeup, you don't seem to put much effort into your outfits but yet all the boys still find you, and I'm quoting a few of them here, smoking hot." Cheryl answered.

Betty was a little surprised. She knew that other boys found her attractive but she didn't realize it was on the same level as Cheryl.

"I mean I think you can understand how for somebody in my position how I would see you as a potential rival," Cheryl said.

"Yeah but I don't really care about being popular," Betty said.

"I know, but still I've always felt threatened," Cheryl explained. "When I tried to set you up with one of the football players and you rejected it, that actually made me feel more threatened."

"I've been wondering why you didn't kick me off the team then," Betty said.

"Because it would have garnered you sympathy. Our classmates aren't complete idiots, well some are; but the majority of them would have seen it as me just trying to embarrass you and you would have come out the better. And I didn't want that." Cheryl explained. "And then I saw how close you were with your friends, and that got me more jealous because I wish I had friends like you do. That's why I asked Sheila to be on the team, we didn't need to replace Midge, I wanted to try and break up your friendship."

"Now that's low Cheryl," Betty reprimanded her.

"I know," Cheryl admitted. "I feel terrible about it to be honest. And now that you're dating my brother, I guess what I want is for us to become friends."

Betty said nothing but just nodded her head.

"I would like that," Betty said. "But I think you're going to need to earn my friendship. You've admitted to doing some things that friends just don't do to each other, at least your intentions. I'm willing to forgive those but you're going to have to prove that you're deserving of my trust and friendship."

"That's fair," Cheryl agreed. "You must have great parents Betty because you're not nearly as socially messed up as I am."

 _If only you knew about my parent situation,_ Betty thought to herself.

"You're not messed up Cheryl," Betty said. "You've just been making bad decisions. But you know enough to correct them."

Cheryl sighed heavily and nodded.

"I've got to ask though, what's up with the farm?" Cheryl asked.

"My grandfather left it to me," Betty replied. "So this is mine now."

Cheryl stood up and looked around.

"You could host some killer parties out here," she said.

"Yeah, that's not really my thing," Betty said.

"Well I guess it is your place," Cheryl said.

Cheryl began walking back to her car.

"Where're you going?" Betty asked.

"Home," Cheryl replied. "I've got appearances to keep up. We might be on the path to becoming friends but there are still a dozen different girls who would be happy to bury me six feet under if they got the opportunity."

"You should think about making some changes to your social life," Betty suggested. "I mean you should think about having real friends, and not just a bunch of people who like you."

"I'll think about it," Cheryl said. "But it's not as easily said as done."

"That's true," Betty agreed. "Well drive safe."

Cheryl waved good-bye as she got into her car and drove off. Once she was gone Betty finished her lunch before going back to work.

* * *

Jughead had finally wandered downstairs in search a snack, he ended up running into Alice in the kitchen.

"Oh Jughead, would you be able to do me a favour and run to the corner store and get me some milk?" Alice asked.

"Sure," Jughead agreed since he realized he could get some jellybeans or pretzels at the corner store at the same time.

Alice handed him some cash to pay for the milk and Jughead left the house to walk to the corner store. He was walking through the parking lot when he came across a boy around the same age as him heading to the store from the other direction. Jughead was a little surprised as he didn't know him.

"Hey are you new in town?" Jughead asked the boy.

"Uh, yeah," the boy replied a little surprised. "My family just moved here from Central City yesterday."

"Are you going to be going to Riverdale High?" Jughead asked.

"Yeah, do you go there?" he responded.

"I do," Jughead answered, then held out his hand. "Jughead Jones."

"Barry Allen," the boy said. "Jughead… that's a strange name."

"It's a nickname," Jughead said. "My given name is Forsythe, same as my father, same as his father. Nobody calls me that though. Not even my mother."

"It seems almost derogatory," Barry said.

"Meh, I don't mind it," Jughead said. "That's really all that matters right?"

"I guess so," Barry agreed.

They entered the store and split up. Jughead went to the back to get the milk before going down the aisle and grabbing a bag of pretzels and a bag of jelly beans. He was up at the counter and had just finished paying when Barry came up with a few groceries.

"Well I guess I'll see you at school tomorrow," Jughead said.

"Yeah, I guess I'll see you there," Barry agreed.

With that Jughead walked out of the store and headed home.

"He seemed nice," Barry thought quietly to himself as the clerk rang through his groceries.

* * *

Veronica was reading over a one of Dr. Klump's preliminary reports. He was using the wasp pheromones and mixing them with various bits of meteor rock to make a sort of perfume. He was doing a fairly controlled experiment with one with no meteor rock, one with green, one with red and one with a mix of red and green.

So far he was still in the manufacturing of his perfumes or mists as he called them in his report. Apparently they needed to sit and ferment for a period of at least two weeks. Veronica wasn't sure why but she had no reason to doubt his veracity.

Finished with the report she set it down and then looked at another one. The people she had searching for Cricket still had not managed to locate her. However it was looking as though she had ended up in Las Vegas. If that was the case then she was probably long gone. Veronica was considered giving up the search. There wasn't much point in continuing to waste resources on something that was likely futile.

As she read the report she saw that the men she had searching suspected that Cricket may be under the protection of an organized crime boss. Veronica frowned, she could see how an ability like Cricket's could prove useful to a crime boss. And a crime boss would probably be loath to part with such an asset. She sent the men an email telling them not get involved with any criminal enterprises, the last thing she wanted was to risk retaliation. Cricket would know who was coming after her and how to strike back.

She then saw another report, one that she wasn't sure where it came from. She opened it up and saw that it was about Betty Cooper, apparently she had come to own a farm. Veronica wondered how such a report had ended up being sent to her, then she noticed her father's e-mail in the CC section on the email. He was still interested in the Cooper. Veronica however had lost some interest over the past week. There was something about the girl, but she was very good at hiding it. However now her interest was renewed.

Veronica sat at her desk considering her options.

* * *

 _So what is Veronica up to? We'll get the first meeting between Barry and Betty? And who isn't a little surprised by what went down with Cheryl? But will she be the same old Cheryl at school on Monday? And has Cricket resorted to a life of crime? All these answers in the next chapter (or two I'm not entirely sure yet). Please read and review._


	23. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

* * *

Betty and her friends got dropped off at school by Polly, who then went off to college.

"Oh I just remembered something," Jughead said as they walked up to the school. "There's a new student who just arrived."

"What how do you know?" Sheila asked.

"I ran into him at the corner store yesterday," Jughead replied. "His name is Barry Allen and he's from Central City."

"I've always thought that was a dumb name for a city," Sheila commented.

"It was originally only a place holder," Dilton said. "Because the city is in the center of the country, but after nobody could really agree on a different name for the city it ended up being the name by default."

"We all know, that's a lesson from seventh grade geography," Sheila said.

"Well the dumb part is that they couldn't agree on a better name," Betty commented.

Just then they saw Cheryl and Jason walking towards them. What was unusual was that Jason was walking beside his sister instead of behind her as he normally did.

"Oh my god Cheryl is something wrong?" Sheila asked as they approached.

Cheryl looked at Sheila as though she were a crazed homeless person.

"I'm sorry," Sheila apologized.

Cheryl gave a derisive snort and then looked at Betty.

"There's a meeting for the cheerleaders today at lunch, I'd appreciate it if you would attend," Cheryl said.

"Okay, I'll be there," Betty agree.

Cheryl turned and walked away but Jason didn't follow her. Betty soon realized that everybody save for Jason was staring at her.

"What?" Betty asked.

"You didn't find that weird?" Jughead asked.

"Cheryl never asks anybody anything!" Sheila exclaimed. "She tells them what to do!"

"I… I don't want to talk about this," Betty said. "Let's just get to class."

She took off towards the school leaving her friends behind to wonder what was going on. However Jason quickly followed behind her.

"Betty wait," Jason called.

Betty didn't stop however till she reached her locker. Jason leaned up against the locker beside her as she opened her locker.

"Betty I know my sister came to talk to you yesterday," Jason said. "I know I should have stopped her…"

"No actually you shouldn't have," Betty said. "I'm glad your sister came to talk to me."

"Oh no… what did she tell you?" Jason asked worriedly.

"Nothing that you need to be worried about," Betty said. "What you just saw was your sister's attempt to treat me like an actual friend."

"Really? That's what that was?" Jason asked in surprise.

"Well you should know, she's never really had any true friends," Betty said. "She doesn't exactly know how to act."

"So she wants to be your friend…" Jason said somewhat suspiciously as he trailed off.

"I think she's actually pretty genuine about that," Betty said. "We… actually have a few things in common it turns out."

"Oh, like what?" Jason inquired curiously.

"As much as I'd like to tell you I promised I wouldn't tell anybody, even you," Betty said. "Now I've got to get to class but I'll see you in second period."

She kissed Jason on the cheek which drew a surprised gasp from a few nearby students before heading off to class. What Betty didn't see was the furious glare from Midge Klump who had been watching Betty and Jason from across the hall.

Betty got to class and took her seat and not long after Jughead and Sheila came in.

"Okay, you've got to tell me everything about your relationship with Jason," Sheila said. "I mean we're best friends, I'm surprised you haven't told me already."

"Yeah that's not really something I like to talk about," Betty replied.

She then looked up to see that Principal Weatherbee had just walked in with a student that Betty didn't recognize. She quickly deduced that his was the new kid, Barry Allen, who Jughead had mentioned.

"Ladies and Gentlemen if I can have your attention for a moment," Weatherbee said. "We have a new student joining us today, if you'd like to introduce yourself."

"Uh, my name is Barry," the boy said. "My parents and I just moved here from Central City."

There were a few scattered whispers. Weatherbee glared at the students.

"I want you all to make Barry feel welcome here in Riverdale," Weatherbee said before leaving the classroom.

"Barry if you wouldn't mind taking the seat at the back in front of Mr. Jones," Miss Grundy said.

Barry made his way through the row of desks towards the empty spot in front of Jughead. As he did Reggie Mantle stuck his foot out to trip him. Betty watched him stumbled and then she saw Barry react so quickly that it looked like he barely tripped. Betty's eyes went wide with surprise, she doubted that anyone else had noticed Barry's reaction time it had been so quick.

Barry sat down in the seat in front of Jughead.

"Nice to see you again," Jughead whispered to Barry.

"You too," Barry replied.

Miss Grundy went into her lesson but Betty just sat in her seat looking at Barry not paying attention. After a few minutes she tapped Jughead on the shoulder.

"Switch seats with me?" Betty asked in a whisper.

Jughead looked at her confused, but Betty gave him an urging look and he just sighed and shrugged and got up as the two of them switched places. Up at the front Miss Grundy didn't even notice. Once Betty had sat down she leaned forward across the desk and tapped Barry and shoulder. He turned around a little surprised.

"Pretty quick reactions there," Betty whispered.

Barry said nothing but just looked at her confused.

"I saw how you avoided falling," Betty continued.

Barry's eyes widened with surprise for a moment.

"Are you a speedster too?" he asked quietly.

"What's a speedster?" Betty asked her turn to be confused.

"Mister Allen, Miss Cooper I would ask that you introduce yourselves after class," Miss Grundy interrupted from the front. "Miss Cooper if you would switch back with Mister Jones please."

Betty sheepishly returned to her desk while Jughead gave her a quizzical look. For the rest of class Betty sat wondering just what a speedster was and glancing over at Barry, who she saw glancing back her occasionally.

The bell finally rang to mark the end of class and Betty watched Barry get up and quickly hurry out of the class room. Without a word to her friends Betty got up and followed after him. She caught up to him just outside the library and pulled him into the library.

"Whoa, that's a strong grip there," Barry commented as he pulled his arm away.

"I… sorry," Betty apologized.

"So are you a speedster?" Barry asked.

"I… I don't know… what's a speedster?" Betty responded.

"It's someone that moves so fast that ordinary people can't see them," Barry replied. "However other speedsters can."

"I guess I am," Betty said. "So wait there are more like you?"

"I've only met one, he goes by the name Zoom," Barry said.

"So are you from Krypton as well?" Betty asked.

"Krypton? Never heard of it," Barry replied. "Is that in New Mexico? They've got all sorts of weird named towns down there."

"Well where are you from?" Betty asked confused.

"Central City," Barry replied. "That's where I was born at Central City hospital."

"So… you're human?" Betty asked confused.

"Yeah, what is wrong with you?" Barry responded.

"I…" Betty began.

Just then she saw Jason approaching.

"Oh Jason!" she called.

Jason came over and looked at Barry.

"This is Barry Allen, he's knew here," Betty said. "I was just showing him where the library is."

"Nice to meet you," Jason said holding out his hand.

"This is my boyfriend Jason Blossom," Betty introduced.

"Pleasure," Barry said shaking Jason's hand.

Betty then noticed Jason giving her a curious glance.

"Did you need something Jason?" Betty asked.

"Just wondering if you wanted to head to class, I know you hate being late," Jason replied.

"Yeah, yeah let's go," Betty agreed. "See you later Barry."

Barry watched and Betty and Jason walked off. There was something rather odd in his opinion about Betty, she shouldn't have been able to tell he was a speedster but she didn't seem to be one herself. This was something he would have to investigate, although he would need to be careful.

* * *

"Ms. Jackpot, my money please," said Tony Bellucci.

Tony Bellucci was a big wig in the Las Vegas crime scene. He was known as Big Tony not just because he was big name, but because he was also a big man. He stood a towering 6'6" and was about 350 lbs.

"What money?" Cricket replied.

Since escaping the train she had managed to make her way to Las Vegas. It seemed like the best place to get a fresh start and because of the amount of cash that moved around in the town a good place where she could put her powers to work. Unfortunately she'd quickly attracted the attention of the wrong type of people. She'd been contracted to move the cash of a major drug deal, but that wasn't something she was comfortable with.

"I've been told how your abilities work," Big Tony said.

He grabbed Cricket and forcefully ripped her clothing off till she was just in her underwear and tossed her to the ground. He then grabbed the gun from one of his henchmen and pointed it at her.

"I can those tattoos of yours," he said. "Now give me my money."

"Well killing me isn't going to get you your money," Cricket said. "I die and it stays as ink on my body."

"Good point," Tony said. "Boys have some fun with her."

Cricket saw that the two henchmen undo their belts and quickly realized what was going to happen. There was one part of her powers that she doubts that Big Tony knew about. She flung a razor bill at Tony's hand which made him drop the gun and then quickly flung two more taking out his henchmen. She then flung two more at Tony's feet which caused him to drop to the ground unable to stand.

She then reached into her torn clothing and pulled out her phone and dialled a number.

"A little help please," Cricket said when somebody answered.

Just a few seconds later FBI agents were storming the area.

"Good work Ms. O'Dell," the lead agent said. "You brought in a man we've been trying to nail for years."

"No problem," Cricket said. "I'd talk more but I'm feeling a little naked."

Another agent gave her his jacket and led her outside to the back of one of the FBI's vehicles so she could sit. Cricket asked for a moment alone and agent wandered off. Cricket pulled out one of the henchman's phones which she had palmed just before the FBI had burst in, she didn't want this call being traced.

She placed a call to the number that Betty had given her. She got an answering service.

"Betty it is Cricket, sorry for taking so long to reply. I escaped to Vegas. Long story short I'm working with the FBI at the moment so communication will be difficult. It would be best if you could come meet me." Cricket said.

Just then she saw the FBI agent returning. Cricket quickly hung up and broken the phone and removed the SIM card.

* * *

Midge arrived home. It was only half-way through school but she couldn't stand to be there any longer.

"Midge, honey what's wrong?" her mother called as Midge stormed up to her room.

"I'm not feeling well," Midge replied.

Amanda called her husband. Midge just wouldn't speak with her when she was in a mood like this, but she would talk with her father.

"Yes, Midge came home," Amanda said when Victor answered the phone. "No I'm not sure what she's upset about. Yes I agree coming home will probably help."

About twenty-five minutes later Victor arrived home carrying his briefcase. Amanda met him at the door.

"She's upstairs in her room," Amanda said.

Without a word Victor went upstairs and knocked on the door to Midge's room.

"Midge it's your father," he called out. "Can I come in."

He didn't get a reply so he opened the door. Midge was lying on her bed with her back to the door. Victor entered and closed the door behind him. He then sat down on the bed and sat his briefcase down beside him.

"Midge, is this about that Blossom boy?" Victor asked.

"Of course it is," Midge answered angrily. "Cheryl wouldn't let me date him for years but Betty Cooper comes along and Cheryl is fine with letting her date Jason."

"Well what if I told you that I could make you irresistible to any boy?" Victor said.

Midge sat up and looked at her father like he was crazy. In response Victor opened his briefcase, inside were several test tubes filled with a mix of green and red liquids.

"These are pheromones I've been developing," Victor explained. "They're mixed with bits of meteor rock to be far more potent than normal pheromones."

"What are you saying daddy?" Midge asked.

"I'm saying these can make you irresistible to any boy," Victor said. "In fact, all the boys. They'll be fighting with each other for you."

"You're kidding right?" Midge responded.

Victor pulled one of the test tubes out and handed it to her.

"Why don't you take this to school, put a little on your neck and find out?" Victor suggested.

Midge looked at the test tube studying it. The way the light seemed to pass through the green and red liquid seemed unusual and she actually began to believe that it could work.

"If it doesn't work you can come back home," Victor said. "In fact just text me and I will come pick you up."

"Thank you daddy," Midge said as she gave her father a kiss on the cheek.

Victor watched as his daughter left the room and head downstairs. The front door then opened and closed as she left the house. Victor then pulled out his phone and made a call.

"Let Ms. Lodge know that I've begun human testing," Victor said before hanging up.

* * *

 _So we have the first meeting of The Flash and Supergirl, the return of Cricket and Midge's father is apparently experimenting with his daughter as the test subject!_

 _I've had a few pictures done for this story, I'll post the links here you'll just need to remove the spaces and changes a - to a . because the site doesn't let me post links in the story. The first is of Cricket (who will be going by the alias Jackpot)_

 _archie-fan. deviantart-com /art /Cricket-O-Dell-from-Riverdale-s-Supergirl-582671339_

 _The second is of Betty doing the Supergirl reveal:_

 _archie-fan. deviantart-com /art /Betty-Supergirl-Reveal-by-Lufidelis-582668188_

 _Let me know what you think of the pictures and the story!_


	24. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

* * *

Veronica was just about to leave for lunch when one of her assistants came to her office to deliver a message.

"It can wait until after lunch," Veronica said dismissively before she had even heard the message.

"But it's from Dr. Klump," her assistant said nervously.

Veronica's eyes narrowed at her assistant. She hadn't been expecting an update today he said that things would need a couple weeks. Her assistant shrank back under her withering gaze.

"What is it?" Veronica asked slowly and suspiciously.

"He said that he's begun human testing," the assistant answered nervously.

For a long moment Veronica just stared at him saying nothing and standing perfectly still. Then the assistant noticed that her right hand was twitching ever so slightly.

"Uh… Miss Lodge?" he asked.

"He defied my orders," Veronica growled, more to herself than the assistant. "I said there was to be no more human testing for the moment."

"I uh… I think he's testing it on his daughter," the assistant said.

That snapped Veronica out of her rage, but instead filled her with worry. There had been a small excerpt about the daughter in Victor Klump's file. She was in the same grade as the Cooper girl, which could potentially be useful. But the file also mentioned how she displayed borderline sociopathic tendency, and that could potentially be disastrous. Veronica knew she had to go into damage control and prevent Belle Reeve from coming under scrutiny.

"I want Klump fired immediately, no make that I want him fired five days ago," Veronica ordered.

"Uh…" the assistant stammered.

"I don't mean go back in time, but I want him fired now and make it look like it was five days ago," Veronica said. "It's a breach of contract pure and simple, it will hold up fine in court although I have a feeling that will be the least of our concerns."

"Miss Lodge I don't understand…" the assistant began to ask.

"Your job is not to understand!" Veronica shouted at him angrily. "Your job is to do what I tell you to do! Now go do what I ordered!"

The assistant scurried off frightenedly to do as she had demanded. Veronica stood there for a moment trying to think about what else to do. She then turned around and sat back down at her desk and got out her phone and opened up her computer. It looked like she would have to work through lunch today.

* * *

Betty arrived at the cafeteria; she made her way over to the table where all the cheerleaders were sitting with their football player boyfriends. She noticed Archie Andrews sitting at the far end of the table with his current girlfriend Ginger Lopez, last week it had been Mina. But it was all for show. She could see the green meteor rock pendant that he always wore peeking out of the neckline of his shirt. She knew she had to stay as far away from his as she could while here.

Betty sat down beside Sheila who was sitting beside Moose. She felt so out of place at this table. However the moment Jason sat down on the other side she didn't feel so out of place. He gave her a reassuring pat on the back as his sister Cheryl sat down beside him with Reggie Mantle sitting beside her.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," Cheryl began. "I'm sure you are all aware just what important business we have at today's meeting."

"Uh… I'm not," Betty interrupted.

Cheryl opened her mouth like she was about to say something then paused and smiled.

"Sorry, I forgot to tell you Betty." Cheryl apologized which drew whispers from almost everyone else around the table; since when did Cheryl Blossom apologize for anything?

Cheryl glared angrily and the whispers ceased almost instantly. She smiled before continuing.

"Anyway we are here to discuss who the Home Coming King and Queen will be," Cheryl said. "In the interest of keeping harmony amongst our group unless we can come to a consensus on which couple it should be, we will choose a couple not amongst us that we deem… acceptable. So, any thoughts?"

"Well I think it should be you and Reggie," Sheila blurted out.

"Kiss ass," Betty muttered to Jason who chuckled and nodded.

"Well I think it should be me and Archie," Ginger suggested as she leaned over and kissed Archie.

"You two haven't even been dating a week," said Mina, Archie's ex.

"This time, but we dated for two months last year," Archie replied.

"How about Jason and Betty?" suggested Nina, another cheerleader.

There were a lot of agreements to that choice around the table.

"Uh-uh, no way," Reggie protested. "He isn't even on the football team."

"I don't think being on the football team is a pre-requisite for being named home-coming king," Jason said.

"Do you want to fight me for it?" Reggie asked standing up.

Cheryl immediately stood up and put a hand on Reggie's chest to try and calm him down.

"Boys, there is no need to fight," she said. "Since we can't come to an agreement it's clear we should pick another couple to give our support to."

Reggie sat back down as did Cheryl but he kept glaring over at Jason.

"How about Maria Rodriguez and Frankie Lopez?" Betty suggested.

Betty didn't know Maria too well, but they saw each other all the time at Pop's where Maria worked. Betty liked Maria, she was definitely Betty's favourite waitress there. Maria's boyfriend Frankie was a dishwasher there and an aspiring musician. Betty didn't know him very well either but she knew he was quite popular with the ladies.

Around the table there were a lot of nods of agreement.

"Any other suggestions?" Cheryl asked.

Nobody else said anything.

"Well then it's settled," Cheryl stated. "Our home coming king and queen will be Frankie and Maria."

Everyone then broke out into their own conversations about the inane aspects of life at Riverdale High.

"That's it?" Betty asked Cheryl.

"The decision as to who are home coming king and queen is important," Cheryl said. "It's caused major rifts amongst the school elite in the past."

"Well I guess so," Betty agreed. "I'm going to go find other friends."

She turned to go but Cheryl grabbed her arm.

"Wait," Cheryl said. "This Saturday how about you and Jason come on a double date with Reggie and me?"

Betty glanced over at Jason who just shrugged to let Betty know it was her decision.

"Uh, sure why not," Betty agreed. "It could be fun."

Betty wasn't entirely sure. Reggie was an egotistical prick on a scale that rivalled Cheryl; however Cheryl had shown she had a good side. Betty wasn't sure that Reggie had one.

"Great, wear something nice we'll be going somewhere fancy," Cheryl said.

Betty walked and Jason followed her.

"What does she mean, something nice?" Betty asked.

"A dress, probably something designer," Jason replied.

"I don't own a designer dress," Betty said.

"Don't worry I've got you covered," Jason said with a wink.

"What do you mean?" Betty asked.

"I said don't worry about it," Jason replied.

Just then they arrived at the table where Jughead and Dilton were. Betty saw that they were joined by the new student Barry.

"Hey guys, Barry nice to see you again," Betty greeted them all as she sat down.

"Barry was just telling us about his school back in Central City," Jughead said. "Why don't you tell them the one of the chemistry lab experiment gone wrong? You'll love this it's hilarious."

Before Barry could begin his tale however the doors to the cafeteria were kicked opened and a gun was fired into the air. Betty looked up to see Adam Chisholm, a student in their grade holding a pistol in the air. He then lowered and pointed it towards the table of cheerleaders and jocks.

Without think Betty got up and ran at top speed towards him. However before she could get there she saw Barry had beaten her there already. Barry disarmed Adam and ran back to his seat depositing the gun in a trash can. Betty raced back to her seat as well both of them sitting back down before anybody else had seen anything.

"What the?" Adam exclaimed looking at his empty hand.

He then growled and charged at the table lunging across for Cheryl. However Moose and Vic grabbed him and threw him to the ground. He got up and the two of them had to pin him down. Adam struggled against them like a crazed animal seemingly desperate to attack Cheryl until Moose knocked him out with a punch to the face.

"What the hell was that?" Jughead exclaimed.

"Did those two date or something?" Barry asked.

"No, they barely associate," Jason replied.

"You should go check on your sister," Betty said to Jason.

Jason nodded and ran over to check on Cheryl who was clearly shaken up by the incident.

"Nice job stopping him," Jughead whispered to her after Jason was gone.

"I didn't do it," Betty said. "It was Barry."

Dilton and Jughead both looked at Barry.

"You've got powers too?" Dilton asked.

"Super speed, fast healing," Barry replied slowly. "Why do you guys all…?"

"No, just me," Betty said. "But I don't think our powers are quite the same. You're even faster than I am. I was closer and you got there before I did."

"That's me, the fastest man alive," Barry said. "I just let Usain Bolt have the title."

"So how exactly did you acquire your powers?" Dilton asked.

"There was this accident two years ago, some friends and I were sneaking around an old chemical plant back in Central City that had been shut down. Just sort of exploring and what not, we were thinking about setting it up to play some paintball." Barry explained "Anyway it was windy and cloudy all the threats of rain, but it hadn't started raining. I was in this room with these old barrels of chemicals I don't know what they were and suddenly the plant was struck by lightning. Somehow it arced all the way down to the room I was in and the chemicals detonated. I was thrown all the way outside, somehow almost completely unharmed, but I was in a coma. Nobody was sure from what. I woke up three months later over the next few days I discovered I had these super speed abilities."

"What did you do with them?" Jughead asked.

"Not much," Barry replied. "I used them to get out of some sticky situations, I helped a few people. Nothing like just now though."

"Speaking of which what the hell got into Adam?" Betty asked.

"It was almost like he was under a spell," Dilton commented. "As though he had been compelled to kill Cheryl. Even though you had disarmed him he still tried to go after her."

"And where would he have gotten a gun?" Jughead wondered.

Just then they heard the sounds of police arriving.

"I don't think the police will be able to properly solve this," Barry said. "I don't really know Adam but I do know that the night we moved into town he delivered pizza to our house and let us have it for free. This doesn't seem like the actions of that person."

"I think you're right," Betty agreed. "And if we're going to help Adam we can't let the cops find that weapon."

Barry glanced over at the garbage can. In a flash he ran over pulled the gun out and came back, the gun hidden under his shirt.

"What do you think you're doing with that?" Jughead whispered worriedly.

"I know where we can take it," Betty said. "Come with me Barry."

She got up and slowly led the way to one of the other exits of the cafeteria. As they were leaving four police officers entered the cafeteria to arrest Adam. Betty and Barry emerged into the hall way and Betty glanced around. There was nobody around looking at them

"Try and keep up," Betty said.

With that she took off at her fastest speed. Barry quickly followed her catching up to her with ease. Betty ran the entire distance to her farm coming to a stop beside the farm house.

"Was that as fast as you can go?" Barry asked.

"You can go faster?" Betty retorted.

"Yeah, a bit," Barry replied.

"Give me the gun," Betty said holding out her hand.

Barry handed the gun to her. Betty pulled the slide back to chamber a bullet and then put it to her head and pulled the trigger. Barry was so surprised he didn't even react. Betty burst out laughing.

"You didn't think I was actually going to kill myself, did you?" Betty asked.

She bent down and picked up the slug that had flattened against her skull and tossed it to Barry who fumbled it twice before catching it.

"Whoa…" Barry exclaimed. "That's amazing."

"You might be faster, but I'm bullet proof, and stronger," Betty said.

"No need to brag," Barry said.

Betty then proceeded to crush and dismantle the gun with her bare hands till it was no longer recognizable as a weapon.

"So what is this place?" Barry asked.

"My farm," Betty answered. "This is sort of where we're going to be making our base."

"You base?" Barry inquired quizzically.

"There's a place near here called Belle Reeve, it's run by the Lodge Family. They've been experimenting on people to give them powers," Betty explained. "We're looking to take it down."

Barry nodded in agreement. "That sounds totally wrong, if you need help then I'm in."

Betty smiled and held out her hand, Barry grabbed it and the two shook hands.

"Welcome aboard," Betty said.

* * *

From in the hallway Midge smirked as she watched the police lead Adam Chisholm away in handcuffs. Her father's stuff, pheromones or whatever it was, had worked. Adam had been willing to kill Cheryl for her. He'd failed, so how he'd ended up disarmed, Midge hadn't seen what had happened. But it had worked and that was all that mattered.

Midge looked at the little vial of red and green liquid. She'd used about a quarter of it getting a hold of Adam, she was going to need more of it. However after what she'd had Adam do she suspected her father might not be so willing to give her more. As Midge stared at the vial she wondered if perhaps she could use it to compel her father to make her more.

* * *

 _I'm sure some thought I had a slight continuity error going there with Midge's father telling Veronica that his experiments would take two weeks, but that was an intentional misdirect. Now Midge has revealed herself as the next villain and we'll get to see what she'll try and do to get revenge on the students at Riverdale High who she feels have wronged her in some way. Please read and review._


	25. Chapter 24

**Chapter 24**

* * *

Barry and Betty arrived back at the school to see that everybody was leaving. Betty quickly found, Jughead and Dilton.

"What's going on?" Betty asked.

"They're sending everyone home. Probably because the police want to talk to everyone directly involved separately," Dilton answered.

"We need to try and figure out what happened too Adam," Betty said.

"Do you think maybe it's some kind of mind control?" Jughead suggested.

"Ugh, I hope not," Barry said. "I mean how can you fight that?"

"Well it depends on how the mind is controlled," Dilton said. "There's several theories on how that could be done. The most popular one is by transmitting on the radio frequency that's sync with a brain's function. However that one in practice comes across as a crap shoot, like you would have a one in ten billion chance at properly sync up with your target's brain."

"Well what do you think it is?" Betty asked.

"Well amongst insects that form large colonies like bees, wasps and ants the Queen tends to control the others through scent. Personally I feel like that's the best way to control someone is through scent, now how exactly that would work… I don't know," Dilton replied. "And odds are it wouldn't even be a scent you can recognize, not like a pie or a burger. It would seem odourless, most pheromones don't have a noticeable smell."

"That's a scary thought," Jughead said.

"It is, but if that is the case it would be fairly ease to stop," Dilton said. "Olfactory blockers are simple enough. The issue would be detecting it them, and since olfactory blockers plug up your nose you're usually left mouth breathing, which isn't exactly the most appealing thing in the world."

"This is all just speculation though," Barry said. "For all we know this Adam kid simply lost it."

"He's right," Betty agreed. "I think we wait and see what happens when they question Adam and go from there."

"What if something else happens in the meantime though?" Jughead asked.

"Well if somebody else goes postal then I think we'll have our answer," Betty said.

"Do you think maybe who he was trying to kill might help us figure out who is behind this?" Barry suggested.

"Cheryl has so many enemies though," Dilton said.

"Yeah but none of them would kill her," Jughead said.

"Don't under estimate the vindictiveness of a teenage girl," Betty commented.

"What do you mean?" Barry asked.

"Midge Klump," Betty replied. "She used to be Cheryl's best friend and… they had an ugly falling out, I don't really know all the details. But Midge went from being the second most powerful girl in school to a total social outcast. I've seen the way she looks at Cheryl since, it's a death stare."

"Yeah but if Midge could do something like this I don't think she would have ended up in her situation in the first place," Jughead said.

"She probably would have been the one running the school and not Cheryl," Dilton added.

"Fair point," Betty agreed. "Still I think we should keep an eye on her."

"If we were police or private eyes, I would agree," Barry said. "But we're just high school students. We can't keep somebody under surveillance, at least not without raising a great deal of suspicion."

"He's right," Jughead agreed. "We can't do anything without more information. And what if it isn't Midge we'd be wasting a great deal of time watching her, and I really don't want to do that."

Betty looked at Dilton who nodded in agreement. She let out a small defeated sigh.

"Alright," Betty said. "Well we've got the rest of the day off and lunch got interrupted, who wants to go to Pop's?"

"You know I do!" Jughead said eagerly.

"What's Pop's?" Barry asked.

"Only the best burger joint in town!" Jughead exclaimed.

"It's a diner near here," Dilton said. "It used to be called the Chock'lit Shoppe from when it was first built in the 50's. The man who owns it, his family has owned it since it first opened. He renovated it a little while back."

"Sounds cool," Barry said. "Let's go."

* * *

Midge arrived home; as soon as she came in through the door her father sprang from his office.

"Midge why are you home?" he asked.

Midge grinned at him.

"It worked daddy," she said. "It worked better than you said it would."

Victor's eyes went wide with surprise and a smile came across his face.

"Tell me what happened?" he asked eagerly.

"Well when I got to school I tried it immediately on the first boy I saw," Midge said. "I told him to kill Cheryl and he tried to! Somebody stole the gun from him, but even then he leapt at her! Some of the boys stepped in and beat him up, but he was so desperate to do what I told him to it was wonderful!"

With each detail of her story Victor's expression changed from one of excitement and amazement to one of shock and horror. He hadn't intended for Midge to use this to kill people.

"Midge that's not why I gave you the…" he began to say.

Midge held up her finger to his lips cutting him off. As he watched she showed him the vial and then sprinkled it on herself. Even though he couldn't smell anything he could feel his sense dull and he became transfixed on his daughter.

"You're going to make me more of this," Midge said. "Actually I want you to figure out a way so that I secrete this stuff naturally."

"I… I…" Victor tried to protest.

However he suddenly found himself turning and going back into his office and looking over his notes. Soon his mind was racing with thoughts on how to do as Midge asked.

* * *

Betty and the others were sitting in a booth at Pop's looking over the menus. Jughead was pointing out all of his favourites to Barry which was just about every single thing on the menu. Dilton was looking over his phone.

"Betty, I got a message from Cricket," Dilton said.

Betty set her menu down a little surprised.

"What is it?" Betty asked.

"Apparently she's in Las Vegas and she's working with the FBI," Dilton said. "She says that the best way to communicate is for you to go out and meet her."

"Vegas? How am I supposed to do that?" Betty asked.

"I could go for you," Barry suggested. "I mean I've run from Central City to Los Angeles and back in under an hour."

"Under an hour? That's more than 4000 miles per hour!" Dilton exclaimed in disbelief. "That's hypersonic!"

"Well that's pacing myself," Barry said. "I've broken 10000 miles per hour over short distances."

"I've managed a little over 7000 myself," Betty said. "2 miles in a second."

"What are we talking about here kids?" Pop asked as he came over to take their order.

Pop was a heavy set man with dark hair who was balding on the top.

"Just a video game," Jughead answered. "A high speed racing one, Barry here is really good at it."

Pop looked at Barry.

"You're new around here, Barry is it?" Pop asked holding out his hand.

"Barry Allen," Barry introduced himself shaking Pop's hand. "My family just moved here from Central City."

"Well hopefully I'll be seeing a lot more of you Barry Allen," Pop said. "I can tell already you're a good kid, you've picked some of the best kids in town to be friends with."

Betty, Dilton and Jughead looked around a little embarrassed.

"Well looks like I'm embarrassing them, a task I should save for their parents," Pop said with a chuckle. "How about I just take your order?"

"I'll have my usual," Jughead said.

"The Everything Burger with fries and onion rings?" Pop asked which Jughead confirmed with a nod.

"I'll get the Southern Fried Catfish," Dilton said, "With the sweet potato fries."

"I'll have the Chicken Avocado Club Sandwich," Betty said, "With the deep fried pickles."

"And how about you?" Pop asked Barry who was still looking at the menu.

"I think I'll have the Triple-Triple burger," Barry said. "And I'll get fries and onion rings with that."

"Are you sure?" Pop asked sceptically. "That's three patties each with three types of cheese."

"Yeah I'm sure," Barry replied handing him the menu.

Pop shrugged and took the menu as well as the others and went to prepare the order.

"A Triple-Triple Burger?" Jughead asked. "That thing is big even I only get that when I'm really hungry."

"Side effect of the super speed is a super-fast metabolism," Barry explained. "I need to eat about 6000 calories a day."

"That would make sense," Dilton commented. "There would have to be some kind of adaption to your physiology to provide the energy for your speed. I would suspect though that as your body adapts to whatever it is that gives you your speed you metabolism will begin to normalize, although it will likely always be faster than average."

"It already has, I used to need 10000 calories a day," Barry said. "How about you Betty, how much do you need to eat?"

"Honestly I don't know," Betty said. "I've had some days I'm really hungry and I can eat a ton and others where I don't feel hungry at all. But I don't know actually know anything about myself."

"What do you mean?" Barry asked.

"Well as I was about to explain back at the library, I'm not human, I'm an alien," Betty answered.

"Alien?" Barry repeated in disbelief. "What did you come here in a flying saucer?"

"It's really more of a wedge shaped ship," Betty replied.

"You're kidding," Barry said.

"No I've seen it," Jughead stated.

"Where is it?" Barry asked curiously.

"Buried about twenty some odd feet deep on my farm," Betty replied.

"Why?" Barry inquired.

"Because the ship's AI and I don't get along," Betty answered.

"What do you mean?" Barry asked.

"I get the impression it doesn't like how… human I act," Betty answered.

Barry nodded although he didn't really understand.

"Do you think maybe this thing with Adam is related to that Belle Reeve facility you told me about?" Barry asked.

"The probability is extremely likely," Dilton replied.

"That makes getting in contact with Cricket even more important," Betty said. "If the Lodges are behind this she's got vital information on the facility and how to stop them."

"The problem is how do we contact her?" Jughead stated. "Sure we know she's in Las Vegas, but that's a big city and apparently she's working with the FBI."

"Did she send anything saying how to contact her?" Betty asked Dilton.

Dilton read the message over and shook his head.

"Then there's not much we can do," Betty said. "Maybe on the weekend Barry and I can go out there to look for her."

"You're not doing anything with Jason this weekend?" Jughead asked.

"Shit… yes! Jason and I are going on a double date with Cheryl and Reggie," Betty replied.

"I can still go," Barry offered.

"Cricket doesn't know you, and she'll be expecting me," Betty said. "Hopefully we can go on Sunday."

"Let's just hope that isn't too late," Dilton said somewhat ominously.

* * *

Veronica was furious. She'd just gotten reports of a student going crazy and attempting to kill another student at Riverdale High. It hadn't taken her long to put two and two together and figure out that it had been Dr. Klump's daughter who was responsible. This was the worst possible scenario. She had done what she could to distance herself from the Klumps but that didn't seem like it would be enough.

Klump's pheromones experiments were clearly successful and given the report she had read, extremely effective. That in and of itself wasn't the issue, the issue was that he had given it to his clearly deranged daughter. Veronica knew that she had to somehow put a stop to Klump's daughter before people started getting hurt or it was likely that things would turn back on her. She also knew she needed to secure Klump's experiment. It could prove extremely useful for her in so many different ways.

The problem was how would she go about doing this, Veronica didn't want to use any of the staff associated with Belle Reeve just in case it didn't work. She picked up her phone and was about to call her father when she paused. She wasn't sure she wanted her father involved in this, instead Veronica called her mother.

"Veronica darling what a surprise to hear from you," her mother said when she answered.

"Mother, I need your help," Veronica said.

* * *

 _Who's going to stop Midge? Or can she be stopped? And will her father be able to do as she asks? Find out in the next chapter. Please review!_


	26. Chapter 25

**Chapter 25**

* * *

Victor Klump was exhausted. Despite his desire not to, he had been working non-stop on trying to come up with a way to make Midge's knew ability permanent. It was now three in the morning but he'd come up with a likely solution. However he had no idea what other effects it might have on Midge, nor did he relish the idea of her using her powers for petty revenge. That hadn't been what he'd had in mind, he'd intended Midge to make a boy fall in love with her, not make a boy try and kill her former best friend.

He'd fought against the mind controlling pheromones but it was like a constant nagging voice in his head was constantly telling him to obey Midge's orders and his body felt compelled to follow.

Victor slowly filled the syringe with the reddish liquid which has small green bubbles in it. He wasn't even sure what to call the serum, but in theory if injected it would allow Midge to produce the mind controlling pheromones naturally rather than need his spray on mists.

Victor went upstairs to Midge's bedroom and knocked on the door before opening. Midge was sound asleep but woke up when her father entered the room.

"I've solved it," Victor said as Midge sat up and handed his daughter the syringe.

Midge turned on her bedside lamp and looked the syringe over and then grinned.

"There might be side effects though," Victor warned her.

"What sort of side effects?" Midge asked.

"Honestly, I don't know," Victor replied. "I'm dealing with only partially understood compounds and operating off of what is essentially an educated guess."

"But I'll produce those pheromones myself?" Midge asked.

Victor sighed and nodded.

"Then that's all that matters," Midge said.

She jabbed the syringe violently into her own leg and injected herself letting out a grunt of pain as she did. She then pulled the needle out and took several deep breaths.

"How long should it take?" Midge asked her father.

"I… I'm not sure," Victor replied.

"Well how about we find out," Midge said. "Hop on one foot daddy!"

Victor stared at his daughter confused by her order but suddenly he found himself hopping up and down on one foot as Midge watched with a gleeful expression on her face.

"Amazing!" she exclaimed.

Just then there was a bang downstairs.

"What was that?" Midge asked.

Victor shrugged as he continued to hop.

"Stop hopping like an idiot and go look," Midge ordered.

Victor stopped hopping and left the room but as he did he saw two masked figures making their way up the stairs armed with MP7's equipped with suppressors. Victor turned and ran back into Midge's room when he saw them. The men chased him into her room.

"Stop you two!" Midge ordered as they entered the room. "Stand still and don't do anything."

The two men stopped in their tracks and stood still just staring ahead. Midge grinned as she stood up and walked in circles around them.

"You, point you gun at his head," Midge ordered one of them to point his weapon at the other.

Clearly struggling to resist but unable to the man did as she said. His ally stood still clearly frightened. Midge walked over and pulled off his mask so she could see the fear in his face.

"Terrifying isn't it?" Midge asked. "Knowing that with a word from me your friend here will kill you, and neither of you can do anything to stop it. Almost makes you want to piss yourself doesn't it?"

The man stood there his eyes bulging with fright.

"In fact, why don't you show me how scared you are and piss yourself," Midge suggested with a smirk.

The man only felt more frightened as his bladder emptied, urine running down his legs and soaking his pants. Midge giggled with sadistic glee as she saw a dark spot appear and grow larger around the crotch of his pants.

"Okay kill him," Midge said to the second man.

The second man opened fire killing the first with a burst from his MP7. He fell to the ground and was soon lying in a puddle of both urine and blood.

"Now hand me your gun," Midge ordered.

The man handed his gun to her clearly reluctantly. Midge hefted it and pointed it at his head.

"You broke into my house, probably to kill me and my father right?" she asked.

The man said nothing.

"Answer me!" Midge snapped.

He nodded his head.

"I should kill you for that," Midge said her finger quivering on the trigger.

However she then lowered the gun and smiled.

"But I won't," she said.

The man gave an audible sigh.

"What's going to happen is you're going to take that knife of yours and slit your own throat," Midge ordered.

Terrified the man pulled the serrated knife from his belt and slowly raised it to his throat his hand shaking. As Midge watched utterly fascinated he slowly drew the blade along his own throat and soon collapsed to the ground his throat gushing blood.

"This is amazing!" Midge exclaimed.

Just then she heard a click behind her and saw that her father had picked up the pistol from the first man's belt and was shakingly pointing it at her.

"You are not going to shoot me," Midge said.

Victor knew he had to, his daughter was a psychopath. However as he tried to pull the trigger he found his finger wouldn't respond. He struggled with all his might but his finger would not move.

"Here's what you are going to do daddy, you're going to take that gun and you're going to kill mom with it," Midge said. "And then you are going to do one of two things, you're either going to come with me or you're going to take that gun, put it in your mouth and blow your own brains out."

Victor struggled to resist as his body made its way into his bedroom. His wife was still asleep, somehow having slept through the racket. He walked over to her side of the bed and pointed the gun at her. Midge followed behind and stood at the door. She watched with a smile on her face as her father fired two shots into her mother's skull. Victor then turned around and looked at Midge.

"So what's it going to be daddy?" Midge asked. "Are you going to come with me? Or are you going to join mom?"

Victor thought it over, he realized that if he went with Midge she might force him to make her ability to control people even more powerful. But he also knew that he might be the only way to stop her. However he also could be forced to kill other people like his wife. Victor took a deep breath and then in single a smooth motion put the gun in his mouth and pulled the trigger.

Midge let out a surprised yet excited laugh as she watched her father's brains splatter all over the ceiling.

"Oh that was awesome," Midge exclaimed as she looked at both her parents' corpses. "My revenge is going to be so sweet!"

She turned to head downstairs but as she reached the door she came across a big hulking man. He was dressed in dark blue and carried a pair of sword on his back and a pair of pistol on his belt. He wore a mask that was dark blue on the right side of his face and orange on the left. Only his left eye was visible.

"Oh, you look menacing," Midge said cockily.

The man drew a sword.

"Put that back," Midge said.

He did as she asked and stared at her in disbelief as she grinned at him.

"So big guy, what's your name?" Midge asked.

"D…Deathstroke," he stammered trying not to speak.

"That's not a name, that's an alias," Midge said. "What's your real name?"

"Slade, Slade Wilson," he replied.

"Tell me Slade, who sent you here?" Midge asked.

"I don't know," Deathstroke replied. "My clients pay for anonymity."

"Smart, disappointing, but smart," Midge said. "Well now Mr. Wilson, you work for me."

Beneath his mask Deathstroke face scrunched into a look of disappointment at the thought of doing the bidding of a psychotic sixteen year-old girl.

"Of course we can't stay here," Midge said. "So Mr. Wilson you're going to take me some place to hide out for a while so I can plan my next move."

Deathstroke just stared at her.

"Well, go on, lead the way," Midge urged him.

Reluctantly he turned and walked down the stairs Midge following behind. Deathstroke was hoping that whatever hold his girl had on him wore off because he was looking forward to cutting her head off.

* * *

At school the next day everything was abuzz. Police had shown up at the Klump house to find Midge's parents dead as well as two other unknown men also dead. On top of that Midge was missing and there was no sign of what had happened to her.

Betty along with Barry, Jughead and Dilton were sitting in the bleacher of the football field during gym class which was second period.

"Do you think Midge is responsible for whatever happened?" Betty asked. "Or maybe it's all just a coincidence?"

"Her father did work at Belle Reeve," Dilton said.

"Perhaps it was a kidnapping gone wrong," Barry suggested.

"The Klumps aren't particularly rich," Jughead said.

"But maybe he had something that was worth more than money," Betty suggested.

"We need to find out just what he did there," Dilton said.

"I overheard that Adam was taken from police custody to Belle Reeve," Jughead said.

"Maybe if we go there under the pretence of visiting him we can scope the place out?" Barry suggested.

"That's a good idea," Betty agreed. "Between the two of us we should be able to scope the place out in no time."

"But you probably won't be able to get in to see him till tomorrow at the earliest," Dilton said. "I mean at the very least he's going to be kept in isolation for twenty-four hours so he won't have any guests in that time."

"That's disappointing," Betty commented.

"Have you talked to Jason since the incident yesterday?" Jughead asked.

"We texted and I talked to him briefly between classes," Betty replied. "But he's been staying near Cheryl; she was really shaken up by what happened."

"I totally get that," Barry said. "I mean it's not exactly a common occurrence that a random person suddenly gets it in their head that they need to kill you."

"If Midge really is somehow responsible for all this she might make another attempt on Cheryl's life," Dilton said. "We should keep an eye on her."

"I hate not knowing what's going on," Betty grumbled.

Just then the gym teacher Coach Kleats yelled at them to get down from the bleachers and run laps. All of them did as told, somewhat reluctantly, although their reluctance was all different.

* * *

Veronica watched as the police van arrived with the newest patient, Adam Chisholm, to Belle Reeve. She watched as a heavily sedated teenage boy was taken off the van and put onto a gurney and transported inside. However Veronica wasn't waiting for the patient. She watched as a limousine pulled up to the facility. Veronica walked over and got into the back.

"Why hello dear," her mother greeted her.

"Your assassins failed," Veronica said. "The daughter got away, probably with one of your assassins to guard her."

"The two that were found dead were just fodder," Hermione Lodge responded. "The real assassin is the one that's still alive. And as long as he is alive he'll get the job done."

"You're certain this won't be traced back to you or me?" Veronica asked.

"Deathstroke prides himself on keeping his clients' anonymity," Hermione replied. "I've used him several times in the past with no issues."

Veronica frowned but nodded.

"Alright mother," she said. "I need to get back to work."

"Don't worry dear, it will all work out," Hermione said.

Veronica got out of the limousine and then watched as it drove off. As she turned and headed back inside she was thinking everything that had happened, and could happen, over in her head. Veronica always tried to stack the odds in her favour whenever she could, but in this situation she couldn't figure out a way to do that, and it worried her to leave things up to chance.

Perhaps the Chisholm boy would be able to provide her with something she could use, she'd have her doctors run every test they could think of on him. Hopefully she'd come up with something.

* * *

 _Rather dark chapter there. Just trying to show how psychotic Midge is. Of course we don't know yet what the side effects of that serum will be. Also it almost seems like Betty and Veronica have a common enemy, but does that mean the two of them will work together? Find out in the next chapter. Please review._


	27. Chapter 26

**Chapter 26**

* * *

Veronica entered the psychiatric ward of Belle Reeve. Since she had started working here this was only the second time she had even set foot in the place. She had to admit that an actual psychiatric and long term care facility was excellent cover for what the real purpose of Belle Reeve was. Her father might not be a scientific genius but that didn't mean he wasn't brilliant.

She walked up to the receptionist who noticed her with a start.

"Oh… Miss Lodge," the receptionist stammered. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to get a report on the boy that was brought in yesterday," Veronica replied.

"Oh, yes, I'll page the doctor to come see you," the receptionist said.

She keyed the intercom which came on with a short squeal.

"Dr. Quinzel please report to the reception, Dr. Quinzel to reception," the receptionist paged over the intercom.

A few moments later a nearby door burst open and a bubbly young woman practically skipped through. She had blonde hair that was currently tied back in a bun and was wearing a white lab coat and a pair of wire framed glasses. She wasn't too tall about 5'4" which was several inches shorter than Veronica.

"Ya called for me?" she asked in a perky voice with a noticeable Bronx accent, that made Veronica cringe.

"Miss Lodge is here to see you," the receptionist replied.

The woman, who Veronica was a little surprised to learn was Dr. Quinzel, turned to Veronica a smile on her face.

"Oh my gawd! I'm so glad to meet you!" she exclaimed as she hopped over and shook Veronica's hand. "Harleen Quinzel pleased to meet you! I'm a big fan."

"Uh… thanks," Veronica replied pulling her hand away. "I'm here for a report on the Chisholm boy."

"Well with the exception of wanting to kill some girl named Cheryl he seems perfectly sane," Dr. Quinzel said.

"Okay, but what can you tell me about his want to kill this girl?" Veronica asked.

"Well, he says it's like this voice in his head is telling him to kill her, although he says it's getting softer all the time," Dr. Quinzel replied.

"Interesting, have you been giving him medication or anything Dr. Quinzel?" Veronica asked.

"No, just sedative to put him to sleep, no anti-psychotics, that would mess with my diagnosis," Dr. Quinzel said. "And please call me Harley. Can I call you Ronnie?"

"No it's Veronica or Miss Lodge," Veronica replied with a frown. "So what would be causing the voice to get softer do you suppose?"

"Couldn't say," Harley replied.

"Let me throw a hypothetical at you then," Veronica said. "Let's say for a moment that mind control is possible. What would your diagnosis be then?"

"You're saying somebody put him up to this with mind control?" Harley asked suspiciously.

"Hypothetically speaking," Veronica responded.

"Well if mind control like that were possible then I'd say that's exactly what this is," Harley answered. "I mean the boy claims to have had very little interaction with the girl and he doesn't exactly come across like a psychotic killer."

"And just what does a psychotic killer comes across like?" Veronica inquired.

"Oh you know, wants to cut somebody's face off and watch them bleed to death because it would be funny," Harley replied.

"That's a very specific example," Veronica commented.

"It's… it's one that I heard from a killer that stuck with me," Harley stammered.

Veronica shrugged.

"Do you think it would be possible for me to speak with the boy?" Veronica asked.

"Sure! Oh and you can meet some of the other patients too, they all really like you," Harley replied.

Veronica was confused but before she could ask Harley grabbed her by the arm and began dragging her into the psych ward. They came into a large common room where patients with various mental issues were milling about, or in the case of one catatonic woman, sitting in a wheelchair blankly staring out a window.

Veronica spotted the boy, Adam sitting at a table staring at a checkers board. She pulled herself free from Harley yet against and made her way over.

"Hello Adam, mind if I sit?" Veronica asked.

The boy glanced up at her, gave a dull shrug and looked back down at the board. Veronica sat down across from him. Veronica noticed that it was all set up for a new game.

"Do you want to play?" Veronica inquired.

In response Adam moved a piece. Veronica then moved one of her own.

"So I understand you go to Riverdale High," Veronica said.

"So?" Adam asked finally speaking.

"So I guess you must miss it," Veronica said.

"Are you going to let me out of here so I can go back?" Adam asked.

"Unfortunately that's not my call to make," Veronica replied.

Adam just stared back down at the board as he made another move.

"Adam, do you know a girl named Midge Klump?" Veronica asked.

Adam looked up at her curious.

"Yeah, why?" he replied.

"What can you tell me about her?" Veronica inquired.

"She's a real piece of work," Adam answered. "She should probably be in here not me. I've never met anybody so shallow and self-centered in my life. I don't think that girl has any empathy."

"No empathy? Why would you say that?" Veronica questioned.

"Well last year we had a school trip to Metropolis," Adam responded. "We were going to the Metropolis Museum of Natural History. Anyway on the way into the museum we passed this homeless guy who had this kind of mangy looking orange cat. Some of us gave him some change others didn't, but Midge went out of her way to tell this guy to get out of there and go get a job. Then for the rest of the trip we had to listen to her complain about how worthless homeless people are, it got so bad that even her best friend Cheryl…"

Adam suddenly stopped midsentence. Veronica watched in fascination as his pupils dilated and his hands balled into fists. All of a sudden two male nurses came over and one of them injected him with a sedative and moments later he was asleep.

"Any time Cheryl comes up he gets like that," Harley said as the two nurses dragged Adam away. "He'll be out for a while, I can let you know when he wakes up."

"No that's fine," Veronica said.

"Who this Midge girl you were asking about?" Harley inquired.

"She was apparently friends with this Cheryl until recently," Veronica replied. "I don't know what happened."

"You think maybe she put him up to this?" Harley asked.

"Maybe," Veronica replied. "But I'm not sure how."

Veronica turned to leave and Harley followed her.

"Please keep me apprised of his condition," Veronica requested.

"Sure thing Ronnie," Harley agreed.

Veronica stopped dead and the slowly turned to face Harley and used her height to loom over her.

"It's Veronica," she said slowly through gritted teeth.

She then turned and walked away leaving Harley standing there feeling rather frightened for a moment.

"Geez what's her problem?" Harley pondered aloud her chipper mood quickly returning.

* * *

Betty was at her locker gathering her things at the end of the school day. Polly was coming to pick her, Jughead and Barry up and take them out to Belle Reeve to visit Adam. Betty was getting her history text book and putting it in her bag when suddenly somebody slammed her locker door shut startling her. She looked up to see Jason who appeared to be rather upset.

"What's this I hear about you going out to visit the guy who tried to kill my sister?" Jason demanded.

Betty looked around to see if anybody else was watching, she didn't want to have a rather public argument.

"It's not what you think," Betty replied.

"Oh, then explain it to me," Jason said.

"Look you know your sister and what she does around here better than just about anybody. Can you think of any time that she ever even interacted with Adam?" Betty asked.

"Well… no not really," Jason admitted.

"Well I don't think Adam wanted to kill her, I think somebody put him up to it," Betty said.

"What are you talking about?" Jason asked confused.

"Think about Jason, Ambrose Pipp suddenly returns from the dead with the ability to turn into a super strong hulked out monster by absorbing electricity, if you hadn't seen it yourself would you think that's even possible?" Betty retorted.

"Well… no," Jason admitted.

"So if that's possible then what if mind control were possible?" Betty suggested.

"So you think somebody controlled Jason's mind and made him attack my sister," Jason stated.

"And I've got my suspicions as to just who is responsible," Betty said. "I think it was Midge. Her disappearance is too strange for it to be some sort of kidnapping."

"But how could Midge make Adam attack my sister?" Jason asked.

"I don't know, that's why I want to talk to him," Betty replied.

"Alright, then I'm coming with you," Jason declared.

"No," Betty responded simply.

"What do you mean no?" Jason asked angrily.

"Look, you're too close, you're angry at him even if it isn't his fault," Betty said. "And if it turns out it actually is what do you think you might do?"

Jason stood there looking back at her not responding.

"You'd do something stupid, probably start a fight," Betty said. "And I don't fault you for that, but it won't help the situation. So just let me do this, for you and for Cheryl."

Jason was silent for a moment.

"Fine," he agreed somewhat reluctantly.

"I'll let you know what I find out," Betty promised as she picked up her backpack and slung it over her shoulder.

"I'm sorry for being so upset," Jason apologized. "Let me at least walk you out."

Betty smiled and nodded. The two of them then made their way out of the school chatting about their pending double date on Friday. Cheryl was quite determined for it to happen apparently believing it would help her get over the trauma of the incident on Monday. Jason told Betty that he'd gotten a dress for her and it should be arriving at her house tomorrow.

When they got outside they saw Polly waiting in her truck, Jughead was already in there riding shotgun. Betty kissed Jason goodbye just as Barry arrived and the two of them climbed into the backseat.

"So we haven't met yet," Polly said as Barry got in. "But Betty's told me quite a bit about you Barry. I'm Polly by the way."

"Nice to meet you Polly," Barry said.

"So are you actually faster than Betty?" Polly inquired. "Betty denies it but Jughead says you are."

"She's got a lot of things on me, but speed isn't one of them," Barry replied.

"That's hard to believe," Polly said as she shifted into gear and pulled away from the school.

The trip out to Belle Reeve took quite a while, taking almost half an hour to reach. They pulled into the facility's small parking lot and then walked up to the main entrance. They made their way to the reception area for the psychiatric ward.

"Can I help you?" the receptionist asked.

"Um, we're friends of Adam Chisholm, we were wondering if we could visit," Betty replied.

The receptionist eyed them suspiciously.

"Just a moment," she said before picking up her phone.

* * *

Veronica was sitting in her office when she received a call. When she answered she was a little surprised to hear that it was the receptionist from the psychiatric ward. She was calling to let Veronica know that there were people here to visit the Chisholm boy. Curious Veronica pulled up the current security footage of the reception area and her eyes went wide when she saw that it was Betty Cooper and her sister and what appeared to be two male friends.

"Let them see him," Veronica said. "But have Dr. Quinzel or some of the staff monitor their conversations with him."

Veronica hung up the phone but continued to watch the security footage. She wondered what Betty was doing here.

* * *

The receptionist got off the phone.

"Just a minute and someone will show you in," the receptionist said.

A few moments later Dr. Harleen Quinzel showed up, as giddy and bubbly as ever.

"Oh wow what do we have here?" she asked. "Four visitors for our newest patient!"

Betty and the others thought that she seemed rather young, and a little immature, to be a psychiatrist

"I'm Doctor Harleen Quinzel, but you guys can call me Harley, like the motorcycle," she said. "Follow me."

She led the way into the ward. When they reached the common room they immediately spotted Adam sitting a chair staring out the window.

"I think just one of you should talk to him at a time," Harley said.

"I'll talk to him first," Jughead said. "We used to play little league together."

"Aw I bet you both looked cute in your little uniforms," Harley said.

She continued to yammer on as she lead Jughead over to Adam. As soon as she was out of ear shot Betty and Barry looked at each other.

"You take the east of the building I'll take the west," Betty said.

Barry glanced up and noticed that there was a security camera looking at them.

"Let's get out of sight of that camera first," Barry suggested.

They subtly made their way out of the camera's range.

"Meet back here in fifteen seconds?" Betty asked.

"I'll be back in ten," Barry replied.

The two of them took off in a blur leaving Polly standing there by herself.

"Freaky," Polly muttered amazed at seeing Barry move as fast if not faster than her sister could, it wasn't possible to tell.

However moments later Barry returned and not long after that Betty returned.

"Well?" Polly asked.

"Nothing," Barry replied.

"Me neither," Betty said disappointed.

"Do you think that maybe Cricket lied?" Polly asked.

"No, she knew about Ambrose, she had met him before," Betty said. "There's something here, but it must be hidden. Maybe somewhere we couldn't get to."

"Perhaps there's a facility below Belle Reeve," Barry suggested.

"Yeah, but how do we access it?" Betty asked.

"I can take a look around outside," Barry suggested.

"Maybe after we leave," Betty replied. "We don't want to arouse too many suspicions."

Just then Jughead returned followed by Harley.

"He seems pretty normal, just like himself," Jughead whispered. "The mind control idea is seeming really likely."

"What you whispering about?" Harley asked nosily.

"Just deciding who will talk to him next," Betty replied.

She then turned and walked over to Adam, Harley quickly following behind her.

"Hey Adam," Betty said as she sat beside him.

He looked away from the window at her a little startled.

"Betty… why are you here?" he asked.

"I wanted to see how you were doing," Betty replied. "You caused quite a stir at school the other day."

"I know… I…" Adam said quickly trailing off.

"I don't know if Jughead mentioned this, but Midge has gone missing, and apparently you were one of the last people to talk to her," Betty said.

"She… missing?" Adam asked confused.

"Yes we're not sure what happened if she was kidnapped or if she ran away but her parents are both dead," Betty answered.

"I… she… I remember seeing her in the hallway at school… she walked past me and said… what did she say? I don't remember! All I remember is coming to in police custody!" Adam wailed.

"It's alright," Betty said patting him on the back comfortingly. "That's actually quite helpful."

She got up and walked back to her friends. Harley stopped and was caught between watching them and dealing with Adam who was clearly having an emotional episode. Betty and the others took the opportunity to leave. They left the facility and got into Polly's truck.

"Well that wasn't quite as productive as I would have liked," Betty said. "But I think we can pretty much confirm that Midge was responsible. Now we just need to try and find her."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," Polly said. "I mean if she's able to control you or Barry, she could make you hurt a lot of people."

"Polly's right," Jughead agreed. "We need to try and figure out how she controls people before we try and do anything to stop her."

"That's true," Barry said. "Maybe we can figure something out from taking a look at her house."

"It's still an active crime scene," Betty said. "We might be able to sneak in at night, but maybe we should just leave this to the authorities."

"Why don't we all go to Pop's, we can catch up with Dilton and talk it over," Polly suggested.

"Now that's a plan I can get behind," Jughead agreed.

* * *

 _Brought in a character that I'm sure DC Comics fans all know. I'm not entirely decided on how I'll use Harley but she's definitely going to have a different story than traditional. I was going to have a bit more of Midge in this chapter but it was getting long so I've moved it to the start of the next chapter. But rest assured Midge still wants revenge against those she feels have wronged her and she'll be making her move and you can be assured that it will include Deathstroke._


	28. Chapter 27

**Chapter 27**

* * *

Midge was sitting on a king size bed in the Presidential Suite in the Fairmont Hotel in the neighbouring town of Greenvale. Deathstroke stood in the corner not moving just standing guard.

Midge had easily talked the hotel's manager into letting her stay in the suite for free, even going so far as to kick the current guests out. She'd also gotten several expensive meals delivered for free, so far she hadn't paid for anything. Not that she had any money.

However Midge had also learned that her powers didn't work on female in a most unfortunate way when member of the housekeeping staff had come to the room and had recognized her as being a missing girl. Midge had gotten Deathstroke to kill her and dispose of the body. She was annoyed though that it seemed her powers only worked on men.

She was currently browsing around on a laptop that she had gotten a random man in the lobby to give to her.

"Hmm this is interesting," Midge said aloud.

"What is it Mistress?" Deathstroke inquired.

He was furious about having to call Midge that, but there was nothing he could do. He had essentially been reduced to her bodyguard slave, a role he despised.

"Well I've just been checking around social media," Midge replied. "It seems like a bunch of my enemies are going to be gathered this Friday."

Deathstroke withheld comment about what she considered enemies. His past clients enemies had been CEOs, Warlords, Politicians, Lawyers, Mob Bosses amongst other powerful people. Midge's idea of enemies was other highschool students.

"It looks like my former bestie is going on a double date with her boyfriend Reggie, and her brother Jason and that sickening good girl Betty Cooper," Midge continued her tone become filled with contempt.

Deathstroke had a sinking feeling about where this was going.

"But this is perfect, we can eliminate three of my enemies at once," Midge said.

Deathstroke knew she meant that he would eliminate them. She wouldn't do anything other than tell him to and he would be forced to carry out her wishes.

"Yes and I can make Cheryl suffer," Midge said. "Let her watch her brother and her new best friend die right before her eyes."

Deathstroke said nothing but just listened as she prattled on about her disdain for these three other teens. He wondered if somebody would be able to stop this girl.

* * *

Betty arrived home on Friday after school along with Jughead. Her mother was waiting at the door for her.

"Oh Betty come on let's get you ready," Alice exclaimed as soon as Betty entered.

She grabbed Betty by the arm and led her upstairs. Betty saw the dress that Jason had sent hanging on the door to her bedroom. It was a sleeveless dress that was beautiful ocean blue colour.

"How do you want to wear your hair?" Alice asked. "I think it would look best if you wear it up."

"I don't know Mom," Betty replied. "I don't know if I want to go."

Alice turned and stared Betty in the eyes.

"Betty do you like this boy?" Alice asked.

"Well… yes," Betty mumbled.

"Then you are going on this date and that is final," Alice said.

Betty was stunned a bit by her mother's emphasis on the fact but nodded. For the next two hours Betty put up with her mother and Polly, when she arrived home, fussing over her and doing her hair and makeup.

It was soon nearing the time Jason had agreed to pick Betty up. Betty was still upstairs in the bathroom her mother and sister fussing over her face.

"He's here," Betty said brushing them off.

A second later the doorbell ring and they could hear Hal answer it. Betty continued to fend off her mother and sister as she made her way down the stairs.

"Oh wow, Betty you look… stunning!" Jason commented.

In the dress he had gotten with her hair done up in a curly up do, Betty was indeed a sight to behold. However she felt silly wearing the heels her sister had insisted she wear and was having trouble walking in them, they also made her now stand taller than Jason.

"Thank you, you look quite handsome yourself," Betty replied.

Jason was wearing a suit with a white and shirt jacket and black pants and bowtie.

"Well shall we go?" Jason asked. "My sister hates to be kept waiting."

"Is she waiting in the car?" Betty asked.

"No she's making Reggie pick her up," Jason replied. "She's all weird about things like that."

"It's traditional, it's nice," Alice commented.

"You clearly haven't met my sister," Jason said.

"Remember bring her home by eleven," Hal reminded him.

"Yes sir," Jason agreed as he and Betty headed to his car.

Jason went around and opened the door for Betty before getting the driver seat himself.

"So where are we going?" Betty asked as they pulled away.

"You'll see," Jason replied cryptically.

Betty wondered if they were going to the Country Club, but the route that Jason drove wasn't going there. However as they drove along the banks of the river Betty began to get an idea as to where they might be going. But it wasn't until they pulled into the parking lot that she was certain.

The Mill was by far the most popular restaurant in Riverdale, and very hard to get a reservation at. The restaurant was a converted 1800's mill that had been one of the first built in the area. Much of the original structure had been torn down as it had been structurally unsound and the cost of repairing it was greater than building a new structure; however the water wheel had been kept and restored and now provided a modicum of the restaurant's power. The rest of the wood of the old building had been used to make much of the furniture like the tables and chairs.

There were three areas to sit at the restaurant, the deck which actually overhung the river and was outside. It was extremely popular during the warm months and Betty could see that it was packed full of customers. Next was what the restaurant called the Atrium which was adjacent to the deck and was a glassed in area that provided an excellent view of the river. And lastly was the restaurant itself which may not have had the view of the River but was opulently decorated.

"Wow, I've never been to The Mill before," Betty commented as Jason parked the car.

"Well you're in for a treat," Jason said.

"How did you even get a reservation here?" Betty asked.

"Ginger's father is the head chef here," Jason replied. "Cheryl got the reservation through Ginger. Ginger owed her a favour."

Betty was a little curious as to why Ginger owed Cheryl a favour but figured it wasn't an important detail. As they approached the restaurant they saw Reggie and Cheryl arrive and they waited for the two of them.

"Lovely dress Betty," Cheryl commented. "I was a little worried you were going to embarrass me and wear that pink one you wore to the spring formal last year."

Betty bit her tongue not wanting to start an argument this early into the evening. She didn't know what was wrong with her pink dress.

"Well shall we?" Jason asked gesturing towards the door trying to steer the conversation elsewhere.

He opened the door for the others to let them all in. Jason then confirmed the reservation and soon they were shown to their table which was in the Atrium right next to the window. Jason and Betty sat beside each other on one side of the table while Cheryl and Reggie sat together on the other. Betty picked up the menu and looked it over; she noticed that none of the items had a price listed. Betty knew that meant that this place was extremely expensive. She felt a little guilty about Jason spending all this money on her.

"So have you been here before Betty?" Cheryl asked.

"No I haven't," Betty replied.

"Well I would recommend either the veal or the duck," Cheryl said.

"I don't know I was thinking maybe the fresh caught trout," Betty said.

"Yeah and then you'll have fish breath," Reggie commented.

"That's what gum or a mint is for," Jason retorted as he glared at Reggie. "Order whatever you want Betty."

"So Betty, can I count on your help with the Homecoming Dance Organizing Committee?" Cheryl asked.

"Um… I've got some other things going on but I can help where I can," Betty replied.

The conversation soon steered towards events at school until their waiter came and took their order. Soon afterwards the waiter returned with their appetizers. Once again the conversation was about school, this time about the relationships of other students.

"So I really don't think that Archie and Ginger are going to last," Cheryl said. "I mean we all know his pattern of moving from girl to girl. I wouldn't be surprised if they've broken up by the end of next week. I've got a suspicion that they just got together because Ginger wanted to be Homecoming Queen."

"Well if you'd let them then maybe we'd be sitting on the deck instead of in the Atrium," Jason commented.

Cheryl shot her brother a dirty look. Betty was bored by the conversation, she didn't like gossiping about their fellow students like this. She glanced over and she noticed something odd; a man wearing a blue and orange mask that covered his entire head. Then she saw the assault rifle in his hands, the pistols holstered on his belt and the pair of swords strapped to his back. Before Betty could react the man opened fire, indiscriminately shooting dozens of people in the crowded restaurant. The window shattered and Betty, Jason, Cheryl and Reggie all dove under the table for cover.

Betty tried to figure out a way to stop this man without revealing herself. However it didn't seem possible. She could hear screams all around as people ran away however the man didn't seem to care and as Betty looked up she could see him advancing towards their table. She quickly realized that he must have been sent by Midge.

He stopped at the table and grabbed the table and flung it aside exposing the four of them. Reggie got up and ran away immediately but the man did nothing. However when Cheryl tried he grabbed her and flung her to the ground.

"Leave her alone!" Jason said as he tried to tackle the man.

All Jason got for his efforts was the butt of the rifle to the gut and then shoved to the ground beside his sister. The man then aimed his rifle at Betty.

"Midge said to start with you," he said.

Betty slowly got to her feet, a defiant expression on her face. As she looked around she could see that the restaurant was now completely empty except for herself, Cheryl, Jason and the assassin. If she revealed herself now only Cheryl and Jason would know and that was something she could deal with.

"Go ahead," Betty said bravely knowing that he couldn't hurt her.

"Betty no!" Jason exclaimed.

The man pulled the trigger letting loose a three shot burst and Betty stood there waiting for the bullets to strike her and bounce off, but it never happened. Jason sprang to his feet and took the shots instead before collapsing back to the ground.

"Jason!" both Betty and Cheryl cried out.

Jason lay on the ground at Betty's feet bleeding profusely. Cheryl scrambled over to hold her brother desperately trying to stop the bleeding with no success.

"Fool," the assassin muttered as he looked at Jason before pointing the gun back at Betty.

However Betty stepped forward and drove her forearm into his midsection sending him tumbling across the restaurant and over a table where he collapsed in a heap. She then knelt down beside Cheryl to examine Jason. As she looked at his wounds she could tell that they were fatal.

"You idiot you didn't have to do that," Betty said.

"Yes I did… because… I… love… you," Jason croaked.

He grabbed Betty's hand and squeezed it while squeezing his sisters with his other hand.

"Don't worry Jason help is on the way," Cheryl said.

But it was too late. Jason's eyes closed and his hands went limp in theirs.

"Jason? Jason!" Cheryl screamed.

She leaned down and saw he wasn't breathing. She then checked his pulse but he had none. Across from her Betty had tears in her eyes as she quietly knelt sobbing.

"Betty, look out!" Cheryl suddenly exclaimed.

Betty could hear something behind her and she realized it was the assassin. She was instantly filled with rage at the thought that he had killed Jason. She could literally feel the rage inside her like a burning heat working its way up to her head, her tears felt like they were burning her eyes.

"Betty… Betty your eyes…" Cheryl said nervously.

Betty couldn't see, but her eyes were glowing red. Just then the Betty felt something strike her back followed by the sound of metal break. Slowly she stood up and turned around to see the assassin standing staring at his broken sword clearly confused.

Suddenly a blast of red energy shot out from Betty's eyes burning a hole in the assassin's chest and setting fire to a topple table behind him. When it stopped both Betty and the assassin stared at the wound confused and frightened before the assassin fell to the ground dead. Betty stared at his body in disbelief but was quickly snapped out of it by Cheryl's scream.

"Cheryl stop," Betty said.

"You killed him, with like laser eyes or something," Cheryl stammered. "You're a freak."

"I…" Betty wanted to reply but couldn't think of anything to say.

Then she heard the sound of police sirens approaching. She knew that she couldn't be here, when they arrived. She also knew that she couldn't leave Cheryl here to tell them what she had just seen. Betty grabbed Cheryl tossed her over her shoulder and sped out of the restaurant just as the police were arriving.

* * *

 _Much death in this chapter and a lot of fallout to be taken care of. Just how is Betty going to handle Jason's death? And how will Cheryl handle learning about Betty's powers? And let's not forget how will Midge handle her attempt to kill Cheryl being foiled yet again? Yep a questions for the upcoming chapters so stay tuned. Please review._


	29. Chapter 28

**Chapter 28**

* * *

Betty came to a stop and set Cheryl down.

"Put me down! Put me down!" Cheryl screamed.

She then realized that Betty had indeed put her down, but that they weren't in the restaurant anymore.

"Where are we?" Cheryl asked.

"My farm," Betty replied.

"What did you bring me here to kill me now?" Cheryl asked.

"What? No!" Betty exclaimed.

"You just killed that guy back at the restaurant," Cheryl said.

"He was trying to kill us!" Betty said. "He killed Jason!"

"Oh god! Jason," Cheryl said looked down at the blood on her hands and clothes. "We need to go back."

"No," Betty said grabbed Cheryl's shoulder as Cheryl turned to walk down the drive way.

Cheryl spun around and slapped Betty in the face, however she only succeeded in hurting her own hand.

"Ow! Fuck!" Cheryl exclaimed holding her pain in agony.

"I'm sorry," Betty apologized. "Just… please calm down."

"Calm? Calm? I just watched my brother die in my arms and you want me to be calm?" Cheryl yelled clearly distraught.

Betty wasn't entirely sure how she was keeping together herself.

"We don't even know who that guy was or why he was there!" Cheryl exclaimed.

"Actually I've got a theory on that," Betty said.

"Oh and what is that?" Cheryl asked.

"I think he was sent by Midge, to kill you, me and Jason," Betty said.

"He did say her name in the restaurant," Cheryl admitted calming down slightly. "But he looked like professional hitman, how could Midge pay for such a thing?"

"Because I don't think she did," Betty answered.

Cheryl's eyes narrowed.

"What do you mean?" Cheryl asked.

"My friends and I… we think Midge has developed some kind of mind control," Betty explained. "She's the one that got Adam to attack you the other day."

"That gun he had… you disarmed him?" Cheryl asked.

"I… yes," Betty lied not wanting to give up Barry's secret; that was his to tell.

"How did you do that?" Cheryl inquired.

"Same way I got us all the way here from the restaurant," Betty replied. "I can move really fast, faster than people can see."

"And what about the laser eye thing?" Cheryl asked.

"Um, that's new," Betty answered. "I've never done that before."

"And Ambrose, were you responsible for stopping him too?" Cheryl asked.

"That was the first real test," Betty replied.

"So you could have saved Jason," Cheryl said.

"I… yes…" Betty replied. "But I was trying to save everyone."

"How exactly?" Cheryl asked.

"I figured if he wasted his bullets trying to shoot me…" Betty said.

"Waste his bullets shooting you?" Cheryl asked.

"I'm also bulletproof," Betty replied. "But I didn't want to risk a stray shot hitting somebody, but Jason felt the need to take the bullets for me. He… he didn't know."

"Well who else does?" Cheryl questioned.

"My family, Jughead, Dilton and the new kid Barry, and now you," Betty answered. "And that's it."

There were a few more like Ambrose, Cricket and possibly Veronica, but Betty didn't feel they needed to be mentioned.

"So how?" Cheryl asked.

"How what?" Betty asked back.

"How do you do all of this?" Cheryl asked. "Are you like secretly an alien or something?"

"Actually that's exactly it," Betty answered.

"What?" Cheryl asked utterly confused.

"I'm actually an alien," Betty explained.

"You're kidding, I mean you don't look like an alien," Cheryl said.

"I'm not really sure what that's supposed to mean or what an alien is supposed to look like," Betty said.

"If you're an alien where are you from? Uranus?" Cheryl asked sarcastically.

"My home planet is called Krypton," Betty replied. "It was destroyed; how that happened I don't know but my parents sent me here when I was an infant. I arrived with the meteor storm and the Coopers found me and raised me as their own. I didn't even know I wasn't human until a couple of weeks ago."

"How did you not know?" Cheryl inquired.

"My parents always told me I was special, my abilities manifested themselves as I got older," Betty said. "They found out I was super strong when I was 3, that I was nearly invulnerable when I was 5 and my speed when I was 10."

"So you've been like this for years, had these abilities and never used them?" Cheryl asked.

"Because I know that there are people out there who would take advantage of them," Betty explained. "I try to only use my abilities to help people."

Cheryl said nothing but just looked back at Betty.

"Look I get that you're mad at me about Jason," Betty said.

"I'm… I'm not mad at you," Cheryl said. "I want to be, believe me I really want to be. But I can't be mad at you."

Betty was taken aback.

"I already told you that I really did a number on my brother, I screwed him up socially," Cheryl admitted. "But then you were fixing that. These past few days you were about the only thing that Jason would ever talk about. He really cared for you."

"I know, that's why he took a bullet for me," Betty said with a sad smile.

"I may come across as this self-absorbed bitch at school," Cheryl said. "But I can't be mad at you for my brother loving you. I'm upset at him for being a fool."

"You shouldn't be upset with him even," Betty said. "You should be upset with that gunman, or assassin or whatever and with Midge for sending him."

"You're right," Cheryl said nodding as tears began to flow from her eyes. "But I can't help feel like somehow I'm to blame, like I got my brother killed."

"Look, I'm not going to say that what you did to Midge was right," Betty said. "I think even you can admit it went a little far. But what Midge has done in response is beyond insane, and there's no way you could know that she would go to such lengths for revenge."

"Still the way I've treated her…" Cheryl said.

"You can't think on it," Betty cut her off. "All you can do is try and change who you are going forward. Your brother was trying to be a better person, you were trying too."

"You're right again," Cheryl agreed. "God, you're such a better person than I am Betty. I wish I could be like you."

"You can be, you just have to work at it," Betty said.

"I'm going to make things right," Cheryl said. "I'm the one Midge wants dead so she's going to be coming after me and I'm going to help you stop her."

Betty wasn't sure what Cheryl could exactly bring to the table in terms of helping stop Midge, but she wasn't about to turn Cheryl down either; especially not after losing her brother.

"Alright, the we need to get back to the restaurant," Betty said.

"Why?" Cheryl asked.

"It would be kind of suspicious if we're not there," Betty replied. "But we need to get our story straight. Nothing about my powers. After Jason got shot we ran and hid and we didn't see how the assassin got killed."

Cheryl nodded in agreement.

"You don't mind if I carry you once more?" Betty asked.

"No just don't drop me," Cheryl replied.

Betty smirked and picked Cheryl up as she sped back to the restaurant.

* * *

Veronica arrived at the restaurant called The Mill. There were already multiple ambulances and police officers on the scene and as she got out of her car she saw several different media vans arriving. Veronica was curious as to who the victims were. She suspected that this was yet another attempt by Midge to kill this Cheryl girl that she felt had wronged her somehow.

Veronica was quite certain as to what had happened here; Midge had taken control of her mother's assassin Deathstroke and used him to kill Cheryl. She saw two Medical Examiners wheeling away a corpse and Veronica went over to take a look.

"Excuse me, may I see," Veronica asked stopping them.

The two of them looked at each other unsure and then Veronica reached into her purse and pulled out two hundred dollar bills and gave one to each of them. One of them unzipped the body bag to let Veronica have a look.

Veronica was surprised. It was a man wearing what looked like some kind of fine mesh Kevlar body armour. However the armour hadn't protected him, as he had a huge gaping hole clean through his chest. Veronica could see that the edges of the wound were cauterized so it must have been made by an intense and concentrated blast of heat, like a powerful laser or something.

"What the…?" Veronica muttered.

"Our thoughts exactly lady," the second ME said. "Thanks by the way."

They zipped the bag up and took the body away.

"Looks like your mother's favourite assassin failed," a familiar sounding man said from behind Veronica.

Veronica spun around to see her father Hiram.

"Dad, what are you doing here?" Veronica asked.

"You think I don't know what's going on at work with you?" he retorted. "You may be the boss but I write the pay checks. I know about the Klump girl."

Veronica wasn't surprised by that at all, she knew that several of her employees reported to her father on what went on.

"Yes, but that doesn't explain why you are here," Veronica stated.

"I'm here to clean up your mess," Hiram told her.

"Clean up my mess?" Veronica asked. "I didn't…."

She didn't get a chance to finish as her father walked off over towards where the media teams were setting up their cameras. Veronica followed hoping to finish her thought but soon the cameras were all on her father.

"I'm going to keep this brief," Hiram said. "I'd like to announce that Lodge Corp is going to pay for the medical bills of all the victims of this tragedy and for the funeral arrangements of the deceased."

Veronica grumbled to herself as she turned and walked away. She was heading to her car when something caught her attention. It was Betty Cooper. She appeared to be wet and was wrapped in a dull grey blank and was sitting next to a red headed girl as the two of them talked with police officer.

Veronica made her way over to see what was going on.

"My brother he… he took a bullet for Betty," the red headed girl was telling the officer. "We used the opportunity to jump out the shattered window into the river. We stayed down there until… until…"

She broke off crying.

"It's okay Cheryl," Betty said comfortingly as she rubbed Cheryl's back.

"You know what I think that's enough for now," the police officer said folding up his note pad. "I'll be in touch if I need anything else."

The two girls nodded.

"Well, well, look who it is," Veronica said.

Betty looked up surprised to see Veronica there.

"Veronica… what are you doing here?" Betty asked.

Veronica didn't reply but just looked at Cheryl.

"So you must be Cheryl, sounds like a lot of people have been trying to kill you lately," Veronica commented. "Tell me Cheryl did Betty here save your life?"

Cheryl stared back at Veronica, almost like she was trying to stare a hole right through her. Veronica felt a little unnerved by the girl despite the fact all the makeup on her face was smeared and running.

"My twin brother Jason was just killed in there," Cheryl said. "He took a bullet for Betty and I so we could get to safety. So no, it was my brother who saved my life."

Veronica clenched her jaw in anger.

"You know I can help put an end to these attempts on your life," Veronica said her tone threatening.

"So are you saying that you're at least partially responsible?" Cheryl asked. "Because when I find the person responsible for my brother's death…"

Cheryl let the threat hang in the air. Veronica stood there for a moment, thinking about how to respond.

"That's not what I'm saying," Veronica said. "I have a great many resources and I can help you…"

"Keep your money," Cheryl said. "I don't need it."

"Now just a minute…" Veronica said.

"I think you should leave," Betty said standing up and interposing herself between Cheryl and Veronica.

Betty and Veronica locked eyes for a long moment.

"This isn't over," Veronica said quietly so only Betty could hear before she turned and walked away.

Betty and Cheryl watched Veronica leave.

"Ugh, I can't believe I used to idolize her," Cheryl said. "What a bitch."

"She definitely knows more about what happened then she's letting on," Betty said. "But I don't think she wanted this to happen."

"Don't be so sure Betty," Cheryl said. "You always try to see the best in people, but some people are just rotten to the core."

"Well I believe that," Betty said. "But she doesn't strike me as a sociopath, not like Midge."

Just then another police officer came over to them.

"We're done questioning you ladies so I'm to take you home," he said.

"My parents are out of town at a real estate conference in Florida," Cheryl said.

"You're coming to my place," Betty said.

"Thanks," Cheryl said.

"Come with me ladies," the officer said leading the two of them past a mob of reporters.

The reporters all tried to get a comment from them but the officer held them back as they climbed into the back of his patrol car so he could take them home.

* * *

Midge was in her hotel room enjoy a free lobster dinner that she had told the manager to give her as well as a massage as she watched TV. Suddenly it cut away to breaking news. When the banner scrolled along mentioning a shooting at a Riverdale restaurant Midge turned up the volume.

"Oh this is going to be good!" Midge said excitedly.

The TV then cut to a reporter who was standing outside The Mill. There were police cars and ambulances all over the place.

"Eight people, including the shooter are confirmed dead and at least twenty four injured in the deadly shooting," the reporter said. "The identity of the shooter remains unknown at this time as well as his intentions."

Midge licked her lips hoping to hear about Cheryl's death along with Betty and Jason.

"Nobody is sure what happened to the shooter, however he was dead before cops even arrived," the reporter said.

"Wait what?" Midge shouted at the TV.

Midge had specifically told Deathstroke to kill as many people as he could before he was killed himself after he killed Cheryl, Betty and Jason.

"Oh it looks like two of the survivors, let's see if we can get a comment," the reporter exclaimed.

The reporter took off with the camera man following and as Midge watched she saw a mob of camera men and reporters swarming two girls currently with blankets draped over their shoulders, being led to a police car. As they got into the police car their faces were finally visible to the camera.

"NO!" Midge screamed angrily as she saw that Betty and Cheryl were still alive.

Furious she threw the remote at the TV causing it to shatter in a shower of sparks. She got up off the massage table, however the masseuse was still trying to give her a massage.

"Use those hands to break your own neck," Midge snapped at him.

The masseuse grabbed his own head and broke his own neck with a loud crack just as Midge had hold him to. Midge looked down at his dead body. She tried to think about how she could kill Cheryl, somehow she had managed to survive two attempts on her life. If only she had somebody like Ambrose Pipp…

A smile slowly spread across Midge's face. Her father had created her, had given her the power to control men. Perhaps that is what had been done with Ambrose. And if that was the case then Belle Reeve was more than it appeared to be.

* * *

 _Will Midge finally get her revenge or will Betty be able to stop her? Find out in the next chapter. Please Review._


	30. Chapter 29

**Chapter 29**

* * *

The police car came to a stop outside the Cooper household. As Betty and Cheryl were getting out of the car, Hal, Alice, Polly and Jughead all came running down the drive. Polly was the first to reach them and she hugged her sister.

"Oh my god, Betty are you alright?" Polly asked. "We saw what happened on the news."

"I'm fine," Betty replied. "You know I would be."

"I'll be going girls," the police officer said. "Call us if you remember any details that could help the investigation or need anything."

The officer got back into his car and drove off.

"And I take it by the hair that you're Jason's sister," Hal said to Cheryl. "But where's Jason is he okay?"

"He… he didn't make it," Cheryl said on the verge of tears.

"Oh you poor dear," Alice said as she embraced Cheryl.

Cheryl returned the hug and began sobbing uncontrollably on Alice's shoulder.

"Shouldn't she be with her family?" Hal asked.

"Her parents are out of town," Betty replied. "I told her she could stay with us."

"Of course, of course," Alice agreed. "It'll be tight but we'll make do."

They made their way into the house, Alice led Cheryl upstairs to clean off her make up and get her some clean clothes while Polly, Hal, Jughead and Betty went into the living room.

"So what exactly happened?" Jughead asked.

"Midge sent someone who looks like they were a mercenary or something to kill not just Cheryl, but myself and Jason," Betty replied. "He didn't seem to care about collateral damage either."

"But what happened to Jason?" Polly asked.

"He… he… he took a bullet for me," Betty answered with some trouble.

"Were you weakened with meteor rock?" Jughead asked.

"No, he was just trying to protect me," Betty said. "He… he didn't know about my powers."

"He was a good young man," Hal said. "I only talked to him for maybe ten minutes, but he certainly seemed to care for you."

"Thanks dad," Betty said with a sad smile.

"But how do you know that you're bulletproof?" Hal asked.

"Dad I don't want to…" Betty said looking down at the floor.

"No, I want to know," Hal insisted. "Tell me."

Betty looked up at glanced at her father and then Jughead and then Polly.

"If you don't tell him I will," Polly said.

"I'd like to hear this story," Jughead commented.

"Fine," Betty sighed. "Remember when Chic took me to the shooting range four years ago?"

"The time that he came back with the broken finger?" Hal asked. "I always thought that was odd."

"Well that's because he shot me in the foot," Betty replied.

"Oh you're going to have to explain that a little better," Jughead said.

"Fine," Betty said. "So it was four years ago…"

* * *

 _Four years ago…_

Betty and her older brother Chic were out at the outdoor shooting range to the south of Riverdale. It was fairly early in the day on the weekend and there weren't many other people out here right now. Their parents weren't big fans of guns but Chic wanted to join the military and he figured he needed to be able to handle a weapon. He had been coming out here in the morning every weekend to practice. After pestering her brother for weeks Betty had managed to convince him to bring her along.

Their parents didn't know Betty had come along, nor would they have approved. Neither one was a big fan of guns, and while they understood why Chic was going to the shoot range they had a multitude of reasons as to why Betty should not be there.

"So Betty what do you want to try shooting with first?" Chic asked.

He had three different weapons, a Mossberg 500 pump-action 12 gauge shotgun, a Winchester Model 100 rifle, and a Sig Sauer P220 semi-automatic pistol. Betty immediately grabbed the shotgun. The large weapon seemed even bigger in the hands of the twelve year old girl.

"Make sure nobody sees you use that," Chic said. "A normal girl would get knocked to the ground by the recoil."

Betty just grinned and pointed the gun down range and fired.

"Not bad," Chic said as he peered at the target.

Chic checked the pistol and then pointed it and squeezed off 9 shots. All of them were tightly grouped at the center of the target.

"You're really good Chic," Betty commented.

"Thanks," Chic said.

Suddenly there was another bang as the pistol went off in his hand. Betty looked down to see a hole in the top of her shoe.

"You just shot me in the foot," Betty said, surprised but unhurt.

"I… you're not hurt," Chic responded.

"You shot me in the foot!" Betty repeated.

"It was an accident," Chic said.

Betty snatched the gun away from her brother and then grabbed his index finger.

"Then so is this," she said pulling and snapping his knuckle.

"OH FUCK!" Chic screamed. "What the hell Betty!"

"You shot me in the foot on purpose," Betty said. "You've always been trying to figure out ways to hurt me."

"You're crazy," Chic replied.

"Should I break another finger?" Betty asked.

"Okay, fine!" Chic admitted. "I was trying to see if a bullet would hurt you."

"I knew it!" Betty said with a smile. "Of course I'm going to have to tell mom and dad."

"No you can't," Chic exclaimed.

"Then you're going to take me out for ice cream," Betty said.

"Ugh… fine," Chic agreed. "After I get medical attention for my finger."

"Yay!" Betty shouted.

As the two head back to the car Betty was still teasing her older brother.

"You know if you caved to a twelve year old girl how are you supposed to hold up to torture if you're captured as a soldier?" Betty asked.

"Shut up," Chic replied. "And you're not just any twelve year old girl."

* * *

 _The present…_

"So you broke your brother's finger?" Hal asked a little disappointed.

"You do remember how he shot me in the foot just before that right?" Betty replied.

"You weren't hurt, I thought we taught you better," Hal said.

"You do remember that when I was five he pushed me down the stairs?" Betty retorted.

"And you were fine," Hal said.

"Really Dad?" Polly interrupted. "Why are you giving Betty such a hard time over this?"

"Because if she isn't careful with her powers she can end up killing somebody," Hal replied.

"Betty wouldn't kill anybody," Polly argued.

"Actually…" Betty said softly.

Everybody went quiet and looked over at Betty.

"The guy that attacked us tonight… I… I killed him," Betty said.

"Betty…" Hal started to say.

"I didn't mean to," Betty replied. "I… I was just so mad that he had killed Jason. And then my eyes… I… they blasted him with like these lasers or… or something."

"Laser eyes?" Jughead asked in disbelief.

"Cheryl, she saw it," Betty said. "You can ask her, once she's calmed down."

"I believe you," Polly said.

"Wait look at the TV," Jughead interrupted.

The TV had been playing to itself on mute, but Jughead turned up the volume.

"…has been identified as Slade Wilson, a mercenary suspected in dozens of high profile assassinations," the reporter said. "Now the circumstances of Wilson's demise have not yet been determined nor his motivation behind the attack…"

"Well that makes me feel a little better," Betty mumbled.

"Betty you can't be taking the law into your own hands," Hal said.

"I know that dad," Betty said. "But he did kill Jason, a bunch of others and he wounded even more. And he's apparently killed dozens of times before. Not to mention he tried to kill me, he was going to kill Cheryl. I had to stop him, I just… it's like when we first found out about my strength."

"Betty you were three years old," Hal said.

"Three year olds aren't able to break a table by smashing their fists on it," Betty said. "And what if I'd done that to another kid? I could have caved in their skull."

"Still that's…" Hal started to say.

"And how about when she first learned about her speed?" Polly added cut her father off. "She was six and she accidentally ran right through the garage door."

"It was like seen out of a cartoon," Betty said to Jughead.

"Do you think you could recreate it for me?" Jughead asked picturing it in his mind.

Betty nodded before turning back to her father.

"I don't see what that has to do with this," she said.

"I could have accidentally run through a lot of things," Betty said. "What if I'd been running to hug Grandpa and I ended up running into him? I probably could have killed him."

"Well you didn't and we got your powers under control," Hal said.

"And that's what we'll do with this," Polly said.

Hal sighed and nodded.

"I wonder how Cheryl is doing," Betty said as she looked up at the ceiling.

The question was answered moments later as Cheryl came back downstairs along with Alice.

"Cheryl told me about what happened," Alice said as she came into the living room. "Is it true that you killed the attacker Betty?"

Betty nodded sadly.

"Don't worry about it Betty, he was a bad man," Alice said. "And we'll help you figure out how to get this under control."

Cheryl sat down on the couch beside Betty and the two girls hugged each other.

"Thank you so much," Cheryl said. "You've got an amazing mother Betty. She cares about you more than my own mother cares about me."

"Oh don't say that dear," Alice said. "I'm sure your mother cares about you."

"Only what I can do to help her close out a real estate deal," Cheryl replied bitterly.

"I'm sure that isn't true," Hal said. "Do you want to call them?"

"They won't answer," Cheryl said.

There was a long awkward silence.

"Well it sounds like your girls dinner got interrupted," Alice said. "How about I make you both something to eat?"

"Oh I'm not hungry," Cheryl said.

"Nonsense, you need to eat, and it'll help take your mind of what happened," Alice said.

Alice left and went into the kitchen and soon the sounds of her prepping and cooking could be heard.

"I don't mean to sound cold but what are we going to do about Midge?" Jughead asked.

"We need to figure out a way to stop her," Betty said.

"If I see her I'll kill her myself," Cheryl stated in a malicious tone.

"I wouldn't go so far as to be determined to kill her," Hal said.

"We'll come up with a plan to stop her," Betty said. "We'll find out what Midge has to say for herself and go from there."

"That seems fair enough," Polly agreed.

Cheryl nodded somewhat reluctantly.

"If you do try to kill her I won't stop you," Betty whispered in Cheryl's ear.

Cheryl looked up and the two girls shared a brief smile.

* * *

The taxi came to stop outside of Belle Reeve and Midge got out.

"That'll be 34 dollars miss," the driver said.

"You should check your engine," Midge said.

The cab driver gave her a confused look but then popped the hood and went over and opened it up. He looked down at his cars motor but didn't see anything.

"Put your face up against the engine," Midge said.

The driver had a horrified expression on his face as he slowly lowered his head towards the engine. As his cheek pressed against the hot metal he let out a scream as his skin sizzled and burned. Midge let out a gleeful laugh and then slammed the hood down on him.

"You can just stay there," Midge said.

She walked away and into the facility. She walked up to the reception and was disappointed to see a woman on duty.

"Hello welcome to Belle Reeve, I'm sorry but visiting hours are over," the receptionist said.

"Oh I'm not here to visit a patient," Midge said. "At least not one of your normal patients."

The receptionist looked at her confused.

"My father used to work here, perhaps you knew him, Doctor Victor Klump?" Midge asked.

The woman's eyes suddenly went wide with surprise. Midge could tell that she was pushing a silent alarm button on the underside of the desk. Moments later an armed security guard came running towards reception.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"You were just about to shoot her in the head," Midge replied.

The guard had a frightened look on his face as he raised his gun and shot the receptionist in the face.

"What, no!" he exclaimed.

"Now I'd like you to take me to where they keep the… special patients," Midge said. "You know the ones with powers."

The guard's face clearly showed that he was resisting but he led Midge outside and around to a side entrance, it went almost directly into an elevator. The guard then activated the elevator which began to descend. As they went down Midge soon realized this was some rather secretive stuff. She smiled to herself imagine all the chaos she could cause.

* * *

 _Now that Midge has infiltrated Belle Reeve just what is she going to unleash to try and kill Betty and Cheryl? Will they be able to stop her? Or will Veronica intervene? Find out when the story continues. Please Review._


	31. Chapter 30

**Chapter 30**

* * *

Midge was amazed at what she found down below Belle Reeve. She looked through the cells at the patients, or were the inmates, being held inside. She came to stop at one with a very familiar patient.

"Well, well, well if it isn't Ambrose Pipp," Midge said with a smile.

Ambrose was lying seemingly unconscious on a bed. The room had rubber padded walls and there was thick glass separating him from the corridor.

"Open this door," Midge said to the security guard.

"I… I can't," he stammered.

"Figure out how then," Midge snapped.

The guard ran off as Midge stood there waiting. A few moments later the door to the cell opened and Midge stepped inside.

"Wakey, wakey Ambrose," Midge said.

Ambrose's beady little eyes shot open and he sat up with a start and looked at Midge.

"Midge, Midge Klump?" he asked in surprise.

"Oh you remember me," Midge said with a smile.

"What are you doing here?" Ambrose asked.

"Well I was looking for a little help," Midge said. "You see I need somebody killed."

"Who?" Ambrose asked.

"Cheryl Blossom," Midge replied.

"Is she like your best friend?" Ambrose asked.

"Not anymore," Midge said with a sneer.

Suddenly an alarm went off.

"I guess we should get out of here," Midge said. "Come along Ambrose."

Ambrose found himself following behind Midge his body moving before his mind had decided to agree. As they made their way to the elevator they were suddenly confronted by a pair of security guards.

"I got this," Ambrose said stepping forward.

"No need," Midge said. "You two, shoot each other in the face."

The two security guards screamed in horror as they pointed their guns at each other and shot each other in the face dropping to the ground dead.

"What the hell?" Ambrose exclaimed.

"Yes, you've got the ability to get all big and muscular from electricity or whatever," Midge said. "And I can make men do whatever I say. Problem is it doesn't work on women, that's why I need you."

Midge stepped over the two corpses to the elevator and stepped inside after a moment Ambrose followed. He wanted to get out of this place more than anything.

"So that's why you need me, to kill Cheryl for you?" Ambrose asked as the elevator began its ascent.

"Yes, now we can do this one of two ways, either you can help me willingly, or I can make you," Midge threatened. "Help me willingly and I'll let you go once the job is done. Don't, well you'll be my new personal slave."

"I'll help you," Ambrose agreed. "But there's something you should know."

"Oh?" Midge asked curiously.

"Last time I was out I was stopped… by Betty Cooper," Ambrose said.

"Betty Cooper?" Midge asked incredulously.

"Yes, she's… I don't know what she is," Ambrose said. "She's strong, indestructible, fast… I'm not sure if I can defeat her or not."

Midge considered for a moment. That would explain what happened with Adam's attack and with the attack at the restaurant. She wondered why Betty hadn't saved Jason though.

"Well how did she stop you last time?" Midge asked.

"She threw me into a transformer," Ambrose answered. "I think she overloaded my ability to absorb electricity."

"Well this time we'll power you up slowly," Midge said.

The elevator reached the top and the doors opened. They were greeted by four more armed guards.

"Halt stay where you are!" one of them threatened.

"Please let me handle this," Ambrose asked.

"Fine, but one little detail first," Midge agreed. "All of you drop your weapons and stand still for a minute."

The guards' eyes were wide with surprise as their hands opened and their weapons fell to the ground.

"They're all yours," Midge said stepping aside.

Ambrose stepped out of the elevator and raised his hands towards the fluorescent lights. The lights exploded as blue forks of electricity coursed down into his body. The guards watched in horror as Ambrose grew taller and more muscular quickly growing two feet from his diminutive 5'5" to a towering 7'5" in just a moment. Huge muscles began bulging into existence all along his skinny body till he was so wide that the interior of the elevator could barely be seen past him.

"Now that's more like it," Ambrose said his voice gravelly.

He reached out with both hands and grabbed the heads of two of the guards; his hands were so large now that they completely enveloped their heads. Ambrose squeeze his hands into fists and their heads were crushed to a pulp between his fingers, blood and gore oozing out.

Ambrose then let go and the two decapitated guards fell to the ground dead. He then punched with both hands at the chests of the other two guards. Their bodies were unable to with stand the force of his punches as he literally punched right through them. He withdrew his fists and the other two guards fell down dead beside their decapitated colleagues.

"Very nice," Midge commented as she exited the elevator while examining the damage.

"So where to?" Ambrose asked.

"Well as impressive as you are now we need to get you some more power," Midge said. "And a contingency plan, just in case."

She then led Ambrose outside as he followed.

* * *

Veronica was furious and surprised. The lock down of the underground facilities had not been initiated until after Midge had gotten a guard to release Ambrose. She was fortunate that Midge hadn't managed to free more of the subjects that were being held down there.

Unfortunately Midge and Ambrose had managed to escape and Veronica wasn't sure where they had gone. They hadn't headed towards Riverdale as she had expected. However she suspected that Midge would try yet again to kill that Cheryl Blossom girl.

What Veronica found rather odd was that Midge had been able to wake Ambrose from his coma. Somehow her ability to get men to do whatever she said had let her wake him up simply by telling him to wake up. Medically that should have been impossible.

Veronica knew she had to come up with a course of action to deal with this. However she also needed to review the facility's security protocols; the lock down should have been initiated the moment that Midge had entered the underground facility.

Losing Ambrose also angered Veronica. She suspected that he knew the truth about Betty and she had intended on speaking with him if and when he awoke from his coma.

All of a sudden her phone rang and Veronica answered it.

"What is it?" Veronica asked angrily.

"That's no way to talk to your father," Hiram said on the other end.

"It's not a good time dad," Veronica said.

"Oh I think this is the perfect time Veronica," Hiram said. "You're fired effective immediately. Security should be arriving any moment to escort you out."

Before Veronica could responded he hung up. She looked up as right on cue to security guards entered to escort her out.

"Don't touch me," Veronica snapped at them. "I know the way out."

* * *

"So why exactly did we have to come here?" Ambrose asked.

He and Midge were standing at the perimeter of the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Generating Facility located in Pennsylvania. It was almost 200 miles away from Riverdale.

"Power facilities closer to Riverdale are probably on alert for you," Midge replied. "And I specifically wanted a nuclear one."

"Why a nuclear one?" Ambrose asked.

"You'll see," Midge replied cryptically.

The two of them walked up to the compounds security booth. A single guard was manning the booth and he was sitting reclined in his chair watching a little TV and didn't even notice them walking up until Midge was right next to the half open window. He sat up in his chair in a start.

"Step outside the booth," Midge ordered him.

Dumbfounded the guard opened the door and stepped outside. Midge looked him over to see that he was armed, but that wasn't what she was concerned with.

"Does your security pass let us into the reactor facility?" Midge asked.

"Yes," the guard replied.

"Good give it to me," Midge said.

The guard handed her his badge staring at his hand in surprise as she took it from him, confused as to why he had just done that.

"Now put your gun in your mouth and shoot yourself," Midge said.

She and Ambrose walked towards the reactor as the guard struggled in vain to stop his hand from putting his sidearm into his mouth. Moments later there was a bang as he blew his own brains out.

"Why did you need his badge?" Ambrose asked. "I can just smash down the walls."

"It will be easier to get where we need to if we don't have to smash our way in," Midge replied. "And these are nuclear reactors they have some thick concrete protecting them."

Ambrose nodded but he was still wondering what they were doing here. They reached the reactor building and Midge used the guard's pass to get inside. They then made their way to the control room where three people were on duty, two operators and a supervisor.

"What are you doing here?" the supervisor asked when they entered.

"Just sit down and be quiet," Midge ordered.

All three of them sat and looked at her.

"So, here is how this is going to work," Midge said. "My friend here is going to go power himself up from your main turbine and one of you is going to help regulate the power flow so he doesn't overdo it. The other two are going to build me a dirty bomb."

The three of them looked at each other in shock and even Ambrose was surprised.

"Midge, a bomb?" Ambrose asked.

"It's just a contingency," Midge said. "I case our other plans fail. No need to worry about it."

However Ambrose was a little concerned. Midge focused her attention back on the three employees.

"So tell me the truth, which of you three knows the most about making a dirty bomb?" she asked.

The supervisor put up his hand.

"Okay so you and you," she said pointing at one of the operators. "Are going to go build the bomb. And you are going to go help my friend Ambrose here with powering himself up. Ambrose will tell you what he needs you follow everything he says or believe me he will kill you."

Ambrose and the second operator left the control room. As he did Ambrose couldn't help but feel un easy about Midge's plan.

* * *

It was late at night. Betty was sitting on the roof of the house staring up at the sky. She couldn't see many stars because of the light clouds, but the half moon was quite visible through them. She was thinking about Jason and the afterlife. She wondered if a place like heaven or hell was real.

Just then her cell phone rang. Betty had brought it with her to look at the few pictures she had of herself and Jason. Betty wasn't big on taking selfies so she only had about four pictures to remind her of her time with Jason.

Betty looked at the number but didn't recognize it. However curious she answered it.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Betty, it's Veronica Lodge," came the voice on the other end.

Betty was about to hang up.

"Please don't hang up," Veronica said.

"What do you want?" Betty asked.

"I just want to let you know that Midge has teamed up with Ambrose," Veronica said. "She broke him out of Belle Reeve."

"Why are you telling me this?" Betty asked.

"My father fired me earlier for the escape, but I don't think he plans to do anything about it," Veronica replied. "Now you might not want to admit it to me, but we both know you're the only person who has a chance of stopping them."

Betty didn't say anything as she wasn't entirely sure how to respond.

"Well good luck," Veronica said before she hung up.

Betty stared down at her phone in her hand considering what Veronica had just told her. If it was true then all of Riverdale was likely in a lot of trouble. But Betty wasn't entirely convinced, why hadn't Midge already come after them? She couldn't rule out that Veronica was lying, but then perhaps Midge was being more careful. Ambrose did know about Betty's powers, at least some of them maybe he'd told Midge and the two were coming up with a plan. If that was the case then things could become quite serious quite quickly.

Betty got up and jumped off the roof to the ground and went inside. She figured she needed to tell the others so they could decide as a group just what they were going to do.

* * *

 _What will Betty do? Can she stop Midge? And has Midge gone completely off the deep end? And what's up with Veronica helping Betty? Isn't she supposed to be an enemy? Well you know what they say, the enemy of my enemy and all that. Please review._


	32. Chapter 31

**Chapter 31**

* * *

It was morning and the Cooper family was gathered around the kitchen table. Jughead and Cheryl were both still asleep. Jughead had sacrificed his bed to Cheryl and slept on a couch down in the basement and was still down there. Betty had just told her family about the call she had received from Veronica.

"So let me get this straight," Polly said. "You get a call out of the blue from Veronica telling you that Midge has teamed up with Ambrose?"

"Yeah, apparently her father fired her almost immediately afterwards," Betty answered. "And she doesn't think he's going to even try to stop them."

"Well what are you going to do?" Alice asked.

"I don't know," Betty replied. "I don't know where they are. I would have thought that with Ambrose by her side Midge would have gone after Cheryl by now. The fact that she hasn't has me very worried. Either she's planning something really sinister or Veronica's lying to me."

"What does Veronica have to gain from lying about this?" Hal asked.

"She's been desperate to learn my secret," Betty said. "It could be a trick to expose myself."

"Even if it is, you have to take that risk," Alice said. "I don't know what this girl's issue is, but she's clearly mentally unbalanced and a lot of people are going to get hurt if she isn't stopped. And if she's now got Ambrose with her… Betty nobody else can stop them."

"You're right mom," Betty agreed. "I need to tell Cheryl, she's the one in the most danger."

"Well don't wake her," Alice said. "That girl had a terrible night; she was up so late crying. She must be exhausted."

Just then footsteps could be heard upstairs and then coming down the stairs. Moments later Cheryl entered the kitchen wiping at her eyes with one hand.

"Oh good morning dear, are you hungry?" Alice asked.

Cheryl nodded and just sat down at the table without saying anything. Betty took a deep breath before talking.

"Cheryl I need to tell you something," Betty said.

Cheryl looked up at Betty wordlessly, a blank expression on her face.

"Midge is working with Ambrose," Betty said.

Cheryl's expression didn't change she just stared back at Betty.

"Cheryl do you realize what his means?" Betty asked.

"Midge is finally going to get what she wants," Cheryl said. "She's going to kill me."

Betty was surprised as to how resigned Cheryl was to such a fate. She refused to let Cheryl be like this.

"No, she's not," Betty stated emphatically. "Because I'm not going to let that happen."

"And how are you going to do that?" Cheryl asked.

"I stopped Ambrose once I'll stop him again," Betty replied.

Cheryl just shrugged. Betty sighed, she wasn't sure how to convince Cheryl that she could save her because she wasn't entirely sure herself. It wasn't as though Midge did her own dirty work, and it was possible that Midge could send other people after Cheryl as well as Ambrose, perhaps that was why she hadn't attacked yet.

Betty stood up from the table.

"Where are you going Betty?" Hal asked.

"I need to talk to Veronica," Betty replied.

"What why?" Polly asked.

"She probably knows more about how Midge's powers than we do," Betty replied.

Betty walked out of the kitchen leaving her family and Cheryl behind and out the front door before taking off at top speed for the Lodge Mansion.

* * *

Midge was standing behind the lead glass window watching the plant supervisor working on the dirty bomb he had instructed her to make. The man was sweating profusely and his movements were laboured; he had also vomited several times and some of his hair was starting to fall out. All signs that he was suffering from radiation sickness. Midge figured that he was likely going to die soon.

"How much longer?" Midge asked through the intercom.

"I… almost… done…" the plant supervisor replied.

However all of a sudden he collapsed to the ground, his body spasming from a seizure. Midge watched him spasm on the ground for about two minutes before he lay still, likely dead. Midge turned to the other worker who was sitting beside her and had just watched his supervisor die.

"Well looks like it's your turn," Midge said with a smile. "Get in there and finish it up."

The worker entered the room through a double airlock style door area. He stepped over his dad colleague to examine the partially completed bomb.

"How long to finish it?" Midge asked him through the intercom.

"Um… maybe two hours," the worker said.

"Well then get to work and you might not die of radiation sickness like your boss," Midge instructed him.

The worker quickly got back to work completing the bomb. Midge went over and locked the door to the containment room and then went to see how Ambrose was doing. Ambrose had been gradually absorbing electricity all night except for a pause when he had to kill the people coming in for a shift change.

"Hey Ambrose how's it going?" Midge asked.

Ambrose had absorbed so much energy that he looked comically large. He stood an absolutely gigantic twenty-three feet tall. His arms and legs bulging with obscene amounts of muscle, bigger around then a car was wide. Every part of his body was absolutely massive, except for his head which remained it's normal size. It was practically swallowed up by his bulging traps and pecs.

"I don't think I can absorb any more electricity," Ambrose said. "If I get any bigger I don't know if I'll be able to move."

"I think you're plenty big enough for our needs," Midge said. "It shouldn't be too long for the bomb to be finished."

"I still don't see why we need a bomb," Ambrose said.

"My attempts to kill Cheryl have been foiled twice, probably by Betty both times," Midge said. "I'm not leaving anything to chance this time."

Midge turned to head back inside.

"Are you okay Midge?" Ambrose asked.

"I'm fine why?" she snapped as she turned around.

"You've got a… something on the back of your neck," Ambrose replied.

Midge reached back and felt the back of her neck. It felt a little like her skin was peeling and she also felt something kind of hair and sticky. She pulled her hand away with whatever it was and saw that it was like a large clump of spider web or something. She looked at it not sure where it had come from.

"Hmm," Midge muttered and tossed it to the ground. "Wonder where that came from."

She turned and left leaving Ambrose outside. Ambrose was a little concerned as he watched Midge leave, she looked almost a little feverish. He had his own revenge plans, he was hoping to kill Jughead Jones. But he knew Midge wouldn't let him do that until Cheryl was dead first. He just hoped that whatever was going on with her didn't mess up their plan.

* * *

Betty was standing outside the gate to the Lodge Manor. She walked up and pushed the buzzer.

"Yes?" came the reply of a rather snooty sounding man through the intercom.

"I'm here to see Veronica Lodge," Betty said.

"Miss Lodge isn't seeing people right now," the man replied.

"Tell her that I need to speak with her about the call she made last night," Betty said firmly.

"I don't understand," the man said a little confused.

"Just pass on the message," Betty said angrily. "And tell her I will only see her out here, I'll wait for ten minutes."

Betty stepped away from intercom and leaned up against the large brick fence post to wait. She wondered if Veronica would respond.

Seven minutes later she got her answer as she saw Veronica making her way down the long driveway. Veronica stopped on the other side of the closed gate.

"What are you doing here?" Veronica asked.

"I had a few questions," Betty said. "And I was hoping you could answer them."

Veronica looked at her a slight smirk on her face.

"So you're admitting that you can stop her?" Veronica asked.

"No, I'm not saying that at all," Betty said. "But Cheryl, the girl that Midge is trying to kill is staying with my family at the moment, and that puts us in some danger I would think. I'd like to know what I'm dealing with."

"How did you get here anyway?" Veronica asked looking around. "I don't see a car parked anywhere."

"I walked," Betty replied in a rather deadpan tone. "It's a great way to get exercise."

"Is this some kind of joke to you?" Veronica inquired a little annoyed.

"The situation is no joke," Betty answered. "But your irrelevant questions are. A lot of innocent lives are probably at risk so how about you let me ask you some questions."

Veronica was a little annoyed, but also a little impressed. Betty was showing her momma bear side, willing to do anything to protect her family. Veronica decided to indulge her in some answers.

"Alright fine, ask away," Veronica said as she crossed her arms across her chest.

"It's obvious that Midge can control people," Betty said. "First Adam, then the guy at the restaurant, the question is how? How does she control them?"

"Ah, that is a good question," Veronica said pretending to be impressed. "Well her father was working on this formula a sort of pheromone concoction in conjunction with wasp DNA…"

"I'm a high school student please dumb it down for me," Betty interrupted her a little exasperated.

"Sorry I forget sometimes that few people have the same intellect that I do," Veronica sort of apologized. "Anyway it's by scent."

"By scent?" Betty asked a little confused.

"Yes, pheromones," Veronica replied. "Basically she induces a state of attraction in people where their bodies obey whatever she tells them to do. The thing is it pretty much exclusively works on males."

"Why?" Betty asked.

"Because that's the natural biological attraction," Veronica said. "At least that's what I've observed. I can't say I've seen her try to use her powers on a lesbian. It might work."

"So that's why she hasn't just found Cheryl and told Cheryl to kill herself," Betty said coming to a realization. "Is there any way to stop her pheromone-things?

"It's just pheromones," Veronica corrected her haughtily. "And any kind of olfactory blockers should work."

"Olfactory blockers?" Betty asked confused.

Veronica shook her head in disgust and gave an exasperated sigh.

"Essentially nose plugs," Veronica explained slightly frustrated, "Something that blocks your sense of smell."

Betty nodded acknowledging that she now understood. As she thought for a moment she realized that it was quite possible to stop Midge, whenever Midge made her move Betty felt confident she could stop her.

"Thanks," Betty said. "That nose plug thing will be helpful."

Betty turned and began walking away.

"Olfactory blockers!" Veronica called after her. "You can still smell things through simple nose plugs!"

* * *

"I'm back!" Betty called as she returned home.

"In the living room," Polly called.

Betty entered the living room to see her family and Jughead gathered around the TV watching the report.

"The man responsible for the massacre at the restaurant called The Mill in Riverdale last night has been identified as mercenary Slade Wilson better known by his nickname Deathstroke," the newscaster Cat Grant reported. "Wilson is suspected in several high profile killings and massacres across the world and FBI sources say he was the most expensive contract killer in the world."

"What the hell was a guy like that doing at The Mill?" Jughead asked aloud what they were all thinking.

"Authorities are still trying to figure out just what Wilson was doing in Riverdale last night," Cat Grant continued, "As well as the mysterious circumstances behind his death. Early reports are looking at the idea that a thermite grenade he had strapped to his chest detonated."

"You know there's really just one group of people who could afford somebody like Wilson," Hal said.

Everyone nodded in agreement that it was likely the Lodges who had brought him to Riverdale.

"When Veronica found out what Midge could do she probably hired him to kill her to clean up her mistake," Betty said.

"Did she say as much when you went to talk to her?" Alice asked.

"No but she's far too clever to implicate herself in something like that," Betty said.

"Well did you learn anything useful from her?" Polly inquired.

"Actually yes," Betty replied. "Apparently Midge's mind control is from these pheromones and they only work on males, and possibly lesbians, Veronica wasn't sure about that last part."

"So can we stop her?" Jughead asked.

"Yes she said if we use um, olfactory blockers, that would stop her," Betty said. "Of course, Mom, Polly and I wouldn't be affected anyway."

Betty then looked around the living room and realized for the first time that Cheryl was missing.

"Where's Cheryl?" Betty asked.

"She's upstairs," Alice replied. "She's on the phone to her parents…"

"No Mom! I know Jason would not want that!" everyone suddenly heard Cheryl yell from upstairs.

"Doesn't sound like it's going well," Polly murmured.

"Fine whatever do what you want!" Cheryl continued to yell into the phone. "But don't tell me that you're doing it in Jason's memory, I know it's just to sell more houses."

Moments later they heard Cheryl coming down the stairs everyone turned to look back at the TV.

"Everything alright with your parents?" Alice asked.

"I know you all heard," Cheryl said.

"What happened?" Hal asked.

"My parents are going to have one of the cul-de-sacs in that new subdivision development they're involved in named after Jason," Cheryl said. "That's the first thing they started to do. Not worry about his funeral or anything no. No they want to go and name a street after him hoping to get sympathy and that people will buy more houses."

"Cheryl I don't think…" Alice tried to comfort her.

"You don't know my parents," Cheryl cut her off. "They only had Jason and me, because they felt they needed to portray the image of being this loving family to make it seem like they related to actual families buying houses. We were never anything but a tool to help them sell more houses. We spent more time with nannies and babysitters growing up than with them."

Alice didn't bother arguing. Cheryl took a breath and then looked over at Betty.

"So how did it go with Veronica?" Cheryl asked.

"She's about as heartless as your mother," Betty commented. "But I did manage to get some useful information out of her. And I think we can stop Midge. Jason's death won't be for nothing."

Cheryl nodded.

"The police said they'll be releasing my brother's body later today," Cheryl said. "Do you think I could get a ride down to the morgue to pick it up?"

"Of course, of course," Hal said. "And anything else you need we're here to help you."

"Thank you so much," Cheryl said. "You guys have been amazing, treated me more like family than my parents ever did. I may have lost Jason, but at least with you I feel like I have a family."

Alice stood up and hugged Cheryl.

"You poor girl," Alice said.

They hugged for several moments.

"I'm going to call the funeral home and make arrangements," Cheryl said. "I'll let you know when I'm ready to go to the morgue."

She turned and went back upstairs. Just then there was a report on the screen.

"We've got breaking news," came the TV as it cut to another reporter.

Hal turned the volume back up.

"We've just received word that there has been an incident at the Susquehanna Nuclear Power Generating Facility," a male reporter said. "No word yet on just what type of incident it is, but Reactor number two at the facility has gone offline."

A map came up on the screen that showed that the facility was just 200 miles away from Riverdale. Betty suddenly got a pit in her stomach.

"Oh no…" she muttered.

"What? You don't think?" Jughead asked.

Betty looked at him and shrugged but her eyes were full of worry.

* * *

 _The showdown is about to happen soon as Midge puts her plan into action. Even armed with knowledge of how Midge's powers work will Betty an company be able to stop her? Find out. Please review!_


	33. Chapter 32

**Chapter 32**

* * *

It was late at night when Midge and Ambrose arrived back at Riverdale. Midge had ridden on Ambrose's massive shoulder as he had walked, his huge strides allowing him to move along at a steady thirty miles an hour. Still in avoiding people as much as possible it had taken them thirteen hours.

"Set me down," Midge instructed Ambrose.

Ambrose did as she asked, but he wasn't sure if he was doing it because he wanted to or because she had ordered him to with her powers.

"I'm going to take the bomb into town and hide it," Midge said. "You wait out here and I'll send you a signal when to attack."

Ambrose nodded and handed Midge the large metal briefcase that contained the dirty bomb. Midge took it and walked out to the nearby road into town and stood waiting. She waited about five minutes until a car came by with a young couple. Midge stood at the side of the road waving at them and they slowed to a stop.

"Are you okay?" the man who was driving asked.

"Oh I'm fine," Midge replied. "But your girlfriend isn't."

"Actually she's my fiancée," the man said.

"Well not anymore because I want you to strangle her to death," Midge said.

The man stared in horror at his hands and he reached out towards his fiancée.

"Mike, Mike what are you doing? Stop!" his fiancée screamed.

"I don't, I can't help it!" Mike exclaimed. "Nancy run!"

Nancy struggled to try and take off her seatbelt but she never managed to because Mike wrapped his hands around her throat and began squeezing. Nancy desperately tried to pull Mike's hands off but couldn't as he overpowered her. Midge watched a smile on her face as Nancy flailed about desperate as Mike choked the life out of his fiancée as tears filled his eyes. A minute later she was dead and Mike finally stopped strangling her. He looked at his hands crying.

"Oh stop the crying," Midge said.

Mike stopped crying but his expression suggested that he wanted to cry.

"Get her body out of the car," Midge instructed him. "Toss it in the ditch."

Mike did as she asked tossing Nancy's body into the ditch at the side of the road.

"I want you to start walking down the road towards Riverdale," Midge said. "Don't get out of the way for anything."

Mike began walking down the road quickly vanishing into the darkness, Midge could hear him whimpering.

"What a wuss," Midge commented.

She popped the trunk and put the bomb in and then climbed into the driver seat. She took a look at Nancy's body in the ditch.

"He wasn't the right man for you anyway," Midge said to the dead body.

Midge closed the door and then hit the accelerator. She raced down the road and soon Mike came into view. He looked back and saw her approaching at high speed and his eyes went wide but he didn't move out of the way because Midge had told him not to. The car slammed into him at the knees and his body went sailing up into the air and over the car and landed on the road. Midge cackled with laughter as she raced into Riverdale.

* * *

Morning came and it was quiet at the Cooper household. Cheryl had gone home and spent the night with her parents who had returned from their conference in Florida. The Coopers and Jughead were all getting ready to go to the funeral home. The funeral wasn't until tomorrow, but there was a visitation today.

Betty was putting on the only black dress that she owned while Polly was also getting dressed.

"Don't you think that's a little short?" Polly asked looking at Betty's dress.

"Maybe, but it's the only black dress I have," Betty replied.

The dress didn't even go down to Betty's knees but it did cover up the tops of her shoulders.

"I guess it'll do," Polly said.

Just then Betty's phone which was sitting on her bed began to ring. Betty noticed that it was from Cheryl and she answered.

"Hello?" Betty asked.

"Betty it's Midge, she's here!" Cheryl exclaimed. "But Ambrose is coming for you!"

Suddenly there was a smashing noise out front. Betty ran to the window to see a huge hulking twenty foot tall giant had just smashed Polly's truck with one giant fist that was almost half the size of the truck. Betty then saw the comparatively tiny head and realized that it was Ambrose.

"Oh shit!" Betty cursed.

"What is it?" Polly asked coming to the window.

"Get out of the house, get mom and dad and Jughead out and run!" Betty said.

"What?" Polly asked confused.

"Just do it!" Betty yelled at her sister.

Polly turned and ran out of the room while Betty, opened the window and jumped out landing in the driveway. As she looked down the street she could see people fleeing from the sight of Ambrose's hulking form.

"What are you doing Ambrose?" Betty asked through gritted teeth.

"I heard that Jughead is staying here after what I did to his house," Ambrose said. "I smashed you through it pretty good."

"You're not going to hurt him," Betty said.

"Oh I beg to differ," Ambrose said. "You may have stopped me last time but you won't get so lucky this time. As I'm sure you can tell I've had a **BIG** power boost."

Betty could tell that Ambrose was significantly stronger than the last time they had fought, but she was fairly confident that she could take him.

"Not big enough," Betty said with a growl.

Ambrose let out a loud grunt and slammed his fist down towards her. Betty got out of the way but Ambrose left a two foot deep hole in the driveway. Betty then coiled her legs and leapt as hard as she could towards Ambrose slamming into his colossal chest shoulder first. The force caused Ambrose to fly across the street and land on a parked car, flattening it under his huge body. He picked himself up laughing.

"You are one tricky bitch, but while you're here fighting me; well Midge is having her way with Cheryl," Ambrose said with a smirk.

Betty suddenly realized that Cheryl was in danger too, as were probably anybody else over at the funeral home. Betty stood there not sure what to do. Suddenly Ambrose leapt up into the air travelling nearly five hundred feet almost straight up. Betty then realized that he was going to land on the house. She sped inside and made sure that her parents, Polly and Jughead were outside. Ambrose landed on the house with a crash smashing through all the way to the ground floor.

Letting out an angry cry Betty ran at him and punched him in the stomach as hard as she could. Ambrose let out a surprised gasp as he flew through the air sailing at least a mile away.

Betty then went to the backyard where her family and Jughead were looking at the damaged house.

"Get somewhere safe," Betty said. "I'm going to end this."

She turned and began walking away.

"Betty wait you can't do this alone," Polly called.

"I know," Betty said. "That's why I'm calling Barry."

Betty took off at top speed for the funeral home.

* * *

Barry was lounging in his new room. He'd slept in and had just gotten up and was going to do some homework before going downstairs to have brunch. He was just cracking open his chemistry text book when his phone rang.

"Hello?" he answered it.

"Barry it's Betty we've got a problem," Betty said. "Meet me at the funeral home ASAP."

Betty was at the funeral home five seconds later.

"What is it?" Barry asked.

"It's Midge," Betty replied. "She's got a bunch of people held hostage in there, including Cheryl."

"What's the plan?" Barry asked.

"I need you to get them all out while I confront Midge," Betty replied.

"What if she controls you?" Barry asked.

"She can't," Betty replied. "It seems to only work on males; it's a pheromone thing or something."

Barry nodded.

"Anything else?" he asked.

"Be quick," Betty replied.

The two of them ran into the funeral home. Barry cleared it free of everybody but Midge in seconds while Betty came to a stop in front of Midge.

"Hmm, Ambrose said you were fast," Midge commented. "I didn't realize you were that fast."

"I'm full of surprises," Betty said.

"And so am I," Midge said.

She reached into her pocket to pull something out. Betty stood watching not sure what it was and then she saw that it was a dead man switch. She ran forward and knocked Midge out with one punch and took the switch away from her.

"Shit, shit, shit," Betty cursed. "There's bomb, probably a nuclear one."

Betty looked around to see if she could figure out where the bomb might be hidden and then she thought she heard something from inside the casket. Betty flipped it open and saw that it didn't contain Jason's body but rather it contained a bomb.

"Uh-oh," Betty said.

She looked at it to see that there was a timer.

"Barry?" she called.

Barry appeared beside her a split second later.

"Oh crap is that a…?" he started to ask.

"Bomb? Yeah, a dirty bomb I think," Betty replied. "I think Midge was responsible for that incident at the nuclear power station yesterday."

"Well what do we do?" Barry asked.

"We have to get this out of here," Betty replied. "I don't know what safe is."

"I got this," Barry said.

He grabbed the bomb and took off running. Betty turned and ran after him.

"Barry wait!" she called.

Betty pushed herself to run faster than she had ever run before. Soon she found herself slowly catching up with Barry. Barry ran down to the beach and began running along the water with Betty following behind.

"Barry!" Betty exclaimed.

Barry turned to look back at her slowing down ever so slightly as he did. Betty was able to finally catch up with him and tried to pull the bomb away but it started beeping. Betty ripped the bomb out of Barry's hands and threw it as hard as she could before turning and shielding Barry with her body. The bomb exploded showering the area with radioactive material, however much of it bounced off of Betty and into the sea. The two of them skid along the water to halt about twenty miles of the coast and then Betty and Barry sank into the water for a moment before Betty pulled Barry up to the surface.

"We're alive," Barry said as he spit out some water. "We're Alive!"

Barry laughed with joy.

"We're not done yet," Betty said. "Ambrose is still on the loose in town. And I'll probably need your help to stop him."

"You know you're going to have to start paying me for this," Barry said.

"Yeah? Take it up with me after we stop him," Betty retorted.

They started swimming until they were going fast enough that they were able to run along the water back to Riverdale. As they reached the beach they could see smoke coming from near the town center. They came to stop near city hall to see Ambrose tearing the place apart. Most of the buildings around City Hall were smashed to pieces and City Hall itself was on fire. People were running away from Ambrose screaming.

"Holy crap is he big," Barry commented.

Betty was worried, last time Ambrose had gotten smaller after she'd injured him but he didn't look any smaller now.

"How are we supposed to stop him?" Barry asked.

"I don't know," Betty replied. "Last time I made him overload himself by absorbing too much electricity at once. So unless you can summon a lightning bolt to strike him I'm not sure."

"Well his head is still normal sized," Barry said. "Maybe you can knock him out?"

"Yeah maybe," Betty agreed. "Do you think you could distract him for me?"

"Now that I can do," Barry agreed.

Barry sped off to where Ambrose was holding a car over his head.

"Hey you big dumb-ass," Barry yelled at him. "Bet you can't hit me with that."

Ambrose looked down at Barry and snarled before hurling the car at him with both hands. Barry easily dodge it moving like a blur.

"What the?" Ambrose exclaimed.

He didn't get another word out before Betty was suddenly on his shoulders her arms wrapped around his head. She tried to get her arms down to squeeze his neck and choke him out but his neck was too thick and muscular. Ambrose began bucking around wildly trying to throw her off but Betty held on tight.

All of a sudden there was a loud crack and Ambrose dropped to the ground in a heap and Betty tumbled off. Barry ran to her side but she was already getting up and Barry could see that Betty wasn't harmed.

"We should get out of here," Betty said.

The two of them ran off as a pair of blurs. Soon the citizens of Riverdale were gathering around Ambrose's body to look at it.

"I think he's dead," a young boy said as he poked Ambrose's body.

"Those two blurs saved us!" an old woman exclaimed.

"Yeah but who were they?" somebody else asked.

They all looked in the direction that Betty and Barry had run off in.

* * *

 _Just one more chapter left in this arc of the story that's going to wrap things up as well as put into motion the events for the next arc. I'll probably take a brief hiatus after I finish this arc as I've got a few real life things I should probably focus on (gotta paint a room and clean out the garage) but I will be back and if procrastination kicks in then I might not even leave._

 _Please Review!_


	34. Chapter 33

**Chapter 33**

* * *

Betty came to a stop at her house which was in ruins. Barry came to a stop beside her.

"Whoa… was this Ambrose?" Barry asked.

"Yeah," Betty replied.

"Is your family okay?" Barry inquired.

"Yeah I got them out," Betty replied.

She walked towards the ruins and lifted up a huge beam with one hand.

"Are you looking for something?" Barry asked.

"Nothing in particular," Betty replied.

"Well I'm going to head home," Barry said. "But call me if you need any more help."

Betty nodded and continued picking up pieces of her destroyed home as she rummaged around. She was propping up a large section of wall when she heard a startled gasp.

"Betty?" Sheila asked.

Betty turned in surprise to see her friend Sheila standing at the sidewalk starring at her in surprise beside Barry. Betty then realized that she was holding up the section of wall with just one hand almost effortless.

"Uh…" Betty stammered not sure what to say.

"How are you doing that Betty?" Sheila asked.

"It's a long story Sheila," Betty replied. "Do you know where my family went?"

"I saw them heading to Pop's," Sheila replied.

Betty dropped the section of wall with a relieved sigh.

"Well I'm going to go join them, do you want to come?" Betty asked.

"Will you explain what's going on?" Sheila asked.

Betty looked over at Barry.

"Long story short we just saved the town," Barry said.

Sheila looked at Barry confused.

"Come on let's go to Pop's," Betty said. "That way we can tell everyone the story at the same time."

* * *

They arrived at Pop's where Betty's family and Jughead were sitting at one of the larger booths. Barry, Betty and Sheila joined them. Pop had all of the TV's mounted on the walls current tuned to CNN with the volume turned up. There was a great deal of coverage about what had just happened as the news crews were in town because of the massacre at The Mill just two days prior.

The TV was showing a shot of Ambrose's corpse lying in town square. Police and FBI agents were looking at his obscenely muscular body unsure what to do with it. It looked like they would need a flatbed truck and a crane to move it.

"Betty what happened?" Polly asked.

"Well Barry and I went to the funeral home," Betty said. "And Midge was holding a bunch of people hostage."

"I got them out," Barry cut in.

"And then I confronted Midge," Betty continued. "But then it turned out she had a bomb, a dirty bomb I think."

"A nuclear bomb?" Alice asked frightened.

"Don't worry we ran it out to sea before it went off," Barry said. "Betty protected me from the blast."

"You protected him from a nuke?" Sheila asked in disbelief.

"No it was just a regular bomb," Betty said. "But it was designed to spread radioactive material."

"So anyway we get back to town after averting a nuclear disaster," Barry continued.

"Only to find Ambrose is smashing up downtown," Betty said.

"So she gets me to distract him," Barry said.

"And then I jump up on Ambrose and I'm trying to choke him out, but his neck is so thick I can't get a grip," Betty said. "He starts trying to shake me off and I'm holding on and then all of a sudden, CRACK! He breaks his own neck trying to throw me off, falls to the ground and then Barry and I get the hell out of there."

"Hey the TV," Jughead said point.

Everyone turned to the TV where a reporter was interview people who had witnessed what had happened.

"I dunna know who dey was," said a man named Sam. "But dey moved… moved like a Flash! Just whoosh, super-fast. But dey didn't stay around for no one to thank dem."

"So there you have it, it seems that the little town of Riverdale has its own heroes," the reporter said.

"Heroes," Barry said. "Who'd have thought that?"

"Kind of like that guy up in Gotham," Jughead suggested. "Or that one out on the west coast in Star City."

"Those guys are vigilantes," Hal said, "Taking the law into their own hands."

"We don't know the circumstances there dear," Alice said. "And technically what Betty and Barry did today could be considered vigilantism."

"That guy actually had a good hero name for you Barry," Jughead commented. "Flash."

"I like it," Barry said.

"Yeah but what do we call Betty?" Polly asked. "She's more than a Flash."

"Keep it simple," Jughead said. "She's super, she's a girl, Supergirl."

"Supergirl…" Betty said trying the name out herself. "I think that could work."

"I don't know how much hero stuff we'll need to do though now that Midge has been stopped," Barry said.

"Wait what happened to Midge?" Polly asked.

"Has there been anything on the TV?" Betty inquired.

"No," Alice answered.

Betty got up and ran out of the restaurant in a blur. She came to a stop at the funeral home. Inside it was empty except for Cheryl who had returned and was staring at the empty coffin that had contained the bomb.

"Cheryl… are you okay?" Betty asked.

"I'm fine," Cheryl replied not taking her eyes off the coffin. "I thought she'd gotten rid of Jason's body, but it was just down in the embalming area."

"Are you sure you're alright?" Betty asked a little concerned.

"I can't believe she was willing to use a bomb," Cheryl commented not answering the question. "I mean who does that?"

"Cheryl please, are you sure you're okay?" Betty inquired.

"It's over now right? Midge and Ambrose are dead," Cheryl said.

"Well Ambrose is dead," Betty said. "But I don't know where Midge is."

Cheryl finally took her eyes off the coffin and stared into Betty's eyes.

"What do you mean you don't know where Midge is?" Cheryl asked.

"Well after Barry and I got rid of the bomb we had to stop Ambrose," Betty said. "I left Midge lying right here unconscious."

"She wasn't here when I came back in," Cheryl said.

A look of concern crossed Betty's face.

"I don't know where she is," Betty said.

"So you're saying that Midge is still out there?" Cheryl asked worriedly.

"She is," Betty admitted. "But her plans have been stopped. Ambrose is dead, her bomb went off not hurting anyone."

"But that doesn't mean she can't come back," Cheryl said.

"You're right," Betty agreed. "But I'm going to do everything I can to find her before she can."

"You need to kill her Betty," Cheryl said.

Betty nodded in agreement, but inwardly she was conflicted. She didn't want to kill anybody. Killing the mercenary had been an accident and Ambrose's death was as much Ambrose's own fault as her own. But Cheryl was quite possibly right, Midge had shown a complete disregard for the lives of others and killing her might be the only way to stop her.

"Your dress is ripped," Cheryl commented.

"Well a bomb did go off near me," Betty replied. "Do you know what happened to Jason?"

"His body is downstairs still," Cheryl said. "I think she came here late last night and ambushed the funeral director when he arrived."

"Is he alright?" Betty asked.

"He's dead," Cheryl replied. "He hung himself, or more likely Midge made him hang himself."

Betty swallowed and nodded.

"When I find her I'll make sure that she can't ever hurt anybody again," Betty promised.

* * *

Midge staggered dumbfounded through the forest. When she had come to she had found herself nowhere near the funeral home, even now she wasn't entirely sure where she was. Her head was still ringing from Betty striking her, or at least that's what she thought it was from.

She was feeling a little feverish and she noticed that the skin on her arms was flaking. Midge was worried that perhaps she'd exposed herself to too much radiation back at the power plant.

She tripped over a fallen branch and fell to the ground with a thump on some dry leaves. Slowly Midge struggled to her feet as she looked around. She noticed a cave nearby she was feeling really sick and that seemed like a good place to go rest for a little while.

Midge stumbled her way over to the cave and inside. She thought it was little strange that there was a cave out here in the woods in the middle of nowhere. It seemed to go down rather deep and there seemed to be a strange green glow from further in.

Despite how poorly she was feeling Midge made her way deeper into the cave holding herself up against the cave wall as she did. As she got deeper in she realized that the glow was coming from large chunks of green crystal. She got closer to one to examine it and realized that it was a very large piece of meteor rock.

"This must have been where that really big one hit," Midge thought.

Back during the meteor shower when Midge had only been about two months old there had been many reports of a very large meteorite striking but nobody had ever found it, although now she had.

Midge made her way ever deeper and came across the largest chunk of meteor rock yet. It was nearly four feet tall and very irregularly shaped with multiple spikey protrusions. As Midge got closer she felt like her headache was getting worse. She wondered if maybe this had something to do with her powers which her father had given her using meteor rocks.

Midge slipped and fell to the ground once again. As she got up she saw that her arm was covered in a sticky stringy substance and with was stuck to the cave wall.

"What the…?" Midge muttered.

She then saw that there was more of it on her other arm. Midge tried brushing it off herself but that just seemed to make more of it appear. The more she struggled the more of the stringy stuff that seemed to appear, she had no idea where from. In a matter of moments she was practically cocooned in it and it was difficult to move. At the same time her headache seemed to be getting worse and worse and soon Midge passed out her body dangling in the cocoon from the cave wall.

* * *

Hiram Lodge calmly walked through the forest till he came to the cave. He entered it and made his way in, basking in the glowing green glow of the meteor rocks that lined the cave until he came to a large cocoon on one wall of the cave. He walked over to it and smiled at Midge's face which was the only part of her that was visible.

"Soon my dear, soon," Hiram said to the cocoon. "You will give birth to my rise to power."

* * *

 _That's the end of first arc but there's a lot to happen in the next one. Is Betty going to take up the mantle of Supergirl? Will Barry remain in Riverdale as Flash? And what is happening with Midge and what does Hiram have planned for her? Well that's why you need to read the next arc._

 _Please Review!_


	35. Chapter 34

**Chapter 34**

* * *

The aftermath of Midge's attack was felt by the entire town. There had been even more casualties with five people being killed in Ambrose's rampage through down town and several dozen injured.

There had also been a strange incident near the outskirts of town where a man had killed his fiancée and dumped her body on the side of the road only to get run over by a car about a quarter mile down the road. Police were baffled, it was clear that he had killed her, his finger prints were found on her neck. However how he had managed to transport her body there without a vehicle, or if he did have a vehicle what had happened to it?

As for Midge's attack on the funeral home, there seemed to be a great deal of denial over what had happened. The funeral director said he was just doing what she had asked because of a lack of sleep from being over worked and the others had said that their grief had made them susceptible to suggestion. Cheryl was the only one who knew what had actually happened.

There was also sign of where Midge had disappeared to. She had left a trail of bodies in her wake over the course of her rampage.

It seemed however like the government was trying to cover things up. There was absolutely no mention of the bomb whatsoever. It was probably quite embarrassing for them to admit that somebody had stolen nuclear material from one of their power stations and used it to make a bomb.

The Cooper family however found themselves at the center of a media frenzy. The fact that their house had been the lone home on their block to be destroyed by Ambrose had obviously raised some questions. Jughead rather bravely stepped up and said that Ambrose had been there looking for him; which had opened him to questions like why? Jughead kept his comments to a minimum and soon the media storm passed him by.

Betty and her family had left to live out at the farm while their home was repaired which was expected to take at least six weeks if not longer given how extensive the damage was. Polly also got a new truck from the insurance.

Jason's funeral ended up being delayed a few days. When it finally happened Betty was there sitting beside Cheryl. Betty was surprised that Cheryl wasn't asked to speak during the funeral, despite the fact that Jason had been her twin and she was probably closer to Jason than just about anyone. Their father Clifford had delivered the eulogy and Betty had found it to be little more than filler. He didn't tell a single story about his time with his son but just rattled off some of Jason's accomplishments and constantly talked about how the Blossoms were a loving family.

"What a load of crap," Cheryl had muttered after he finished.

About a week after that the Blossoms had been hosting a dedication ceremony where they named one of the streets in the new subdivision they were a part of developed, Jason Blossom Boulevard. However in the middle of the ceremony Cheryl had suddenly interrupted.

"This is all crap!" she yelled at her parents. "Neither of you know a god damn thing about your own son, you barely know anything about me!"

With that she had just vanished. And the next day at school she hadn't shown up, but Betty had found she had an email from Cheryl which in itself was a surprise.

"Betty, I'm so glad that you came into my brother's life, however briefly it may have been," it read. "I'm sure you like the rest of the school, and perhaps town, are wondering where I am. Well I've left Riverdale, hopefully not for good. However Midge is still out there and I know that she's going to try to kill me again. You don't force people to build a nuclear bomb just to give up. But I'm not going to rely on you to protect me. It's not that you aren't capable, but I need to find a way so that I can protect myself. I don't know how or where I'll find that, but I can't return until I do."

Betty was a little sad as she read the email, but she understood. Cheryl was someone who was used to being in control and she felt like she had lost some of that control. Wherever Cheryl was, Betty hoped that she found whatever she was looking for.

Cheryl's abrupt disappearance ended up causing major changes at school. With the "Queen" gone there was a battle amongst the popular girls for the top spot and Ginger Lopez emerged victorious. Betty and Sheila both quit the cheerleading squad rather than deal with all the superficial turmoil that now existed there.

It was now nearing Halloween and Betty along with Dilton, Sheila, Jughead and Barry was hanging out with her friends in the barn out at the farm. They had turned the loft into a cool hangout spot with a pair of couches and a pair of large easy chairs around a coffee table that Betty had made from the barn door from the old barn. Dilton had provided the electronics with a TV and top notch sound system as well as getting some fast Wi-Fi installed; he had also bought some computers.

The five of them were sitting around sort of watching TV and chatting about things, except for Dilton who was doing something on one of his computers.

"You know I don't see why you guys don't use your abilities to pull pranks at school," Jughead said.

"That's not very responsible," Barry said.

"It's just a harmless prank," Jughead argued.

"Isn't the mantra of your favourite comic book hero with great power comes great responsibility?" Betty asked.

Jughead was quiet for a long moment before he finally mumbled, "Yes."

"I rest my case," Betty said.

"Well how come you and Barry don't do any kind of hero stuff?" Sheila asked.

"Uh you do remember that we saved the whole town from a nuclear bomb, as well as Midge and Ambrose?" Barry retorted.

"I will give you that, although Midge is still at large," Sheila said. "But that was more than a month ago; neither you nor Betty has done anything since."

"Uh…" Barry stammered trying to reply.

"I'm still worried about the Lodges," Betty said.

"Hiram Lodge seems more concerned about his own PR and Veronica left town; last I heard she was in Central City," Jughead said. "Sheila's right you two should get into the hero game."

"Like that Robin Hood guy in Star City?" Barry scoffed.

"Or that ridiculous guy that dresses up like a bat in Gotham?" Betty asked with a chuckle.

"Laugh if you want," Jughead said. "But both of them are powerful symbols in their cities."

"Fine, but still let's say we do, this is Riverdale," Barry said. "How much hero stuff is there to even do?"

"That gas station on the north side got robbed two days ago," Sheila said. "One of you could have stopped that."

"Yeah if we knew it was happening," Betty said. "I mean crime is so rampant in Gotham and Star City you turn a corner and you're stumbling onto a crime scene."

"I think that's a bit of an exaggeration," Jughead said.

"I could easily rig up a police scanner," Dilton intervened into the conversation.

They all looked over at Dilton who staring at his computer screen working on… whatever it was he was doing.

"Okay fine," Betty conceded. "But what do we do to stoop ourselves from being noticed? It's not like we can just zoom in and zoom out in every situation."

"Well I can do this with my face," Barry said.

Everyone looked at him and noticed that his whole face was vibrating making it look kind of blurry.

"I can still tell that's you Barry," Sheila said.

Barry stopped letting his face vibrate and slumped his shoulders in disappointment.

"Well Halloween is just around the corner," Jughead said.

"What's that got to do with anything?" Betty asked.

"Well I've always wanted to do a group costume thing, you know as a group of superheroes and we could have two actual super heroes!" Jughead explained excitedly.

"Let me guess you want to dress up as that Spider-guy," Barry said.

"It's Spider-man," Jughead corrected him. "And no that's not what I thought. I think we could make up our own group of heroes. You and Betty can be Flash and Supergirl and Sheila, Dilton and I can come up with our own hero identities."

"Well yours has to incorporate gluttony," Betty said. "And even if we agree to this, it's kind of late to start making costumes from scratch."

"Uh you seem to forget just who I am here," Sheila interjected. "The girl that made her own homecoming dress three years in a row and it was the best dress each time."

"Sheila I know you can make dresses," Betty said. "But super hero costumes…"

"So you don't think I can do it?" Sheila asked.

"There's five days till Halloween, and you think you're going to make five costumes in that time?" Betty asked.

"Is that a challenge?" Sheila retorted.

"What? A challenge?" Betty asked confused.

"Yeah it sounds like you're challenging me to make these costumes in five days," Sheila replied.

"She's right, it does sound like you're challenging her," Barry agreed.

Betty looked over at Jughead who nodded and then at Dilton who wasn't paying attention.

"Fine, it's a challenge," Betty agreed.

"Then challenge accepted," Sheila said. "And if I win you've got strip the entire football team naked so that I can see."

"Um… what?" Betty asked confused.

"That's how it works Betty," Dilton called over his shoulder. "If she wins you have to do what she says."

"Oh come on," Betty moaned. "And I mean if I get near Archie…"

"I'll deal with that," Jughead said. "Or Barry will."

"It will be me," Barry said. "One hundred percent."

"Well I should get going," Sheila said getting up off the couch. "I've got quite a bit of work to do."

"Well good luck with that," Betty said.

Sheila just gave Betty a smirk that made Betty think that Sheila had some sort of trick up her sleeve and left Betty wondering if perhaps she'd just been tricked into something.

* * *

"So Miss Lodge what exactly are you hoping to do with this property?"

Veronica was in Central City taking a tour of an old chemical plant with its owner and his real estate agent.

"I have a few ideas," Veronica replied. "I'll know a little better once my people come in and tell me just what kind of work needs to be done here."

"Oh we've taken care to make sure that the place is clean," the owner promised her.

Veronica couldn't help but let out a derisive snort. The owner, a Mr. Brooks, had been absolutely shocked to learn that she was even interested in the property and it had been sitting as a tax right off for years as it had been condemned by the Ministry of the Environment.

"I doubt that very much Mister Brooks," Veronica said. "But don't worry I intend to pay you the full value for the property, which my lawyers have estimated at thirty million."

Brooks whispered something in the ear of his real estate agent.

"The value of the property is actually…" the agent began to say.

"It's actually less," Veronica cut him off. "I know you've been having reports about the clean-up of this property falsified. The agents you've been paying off were more than happy to tell me about it, for a bigger pay off. But I'm not going to pay you anything more than thirty million."

Brooks was a little disappointed he had been hoping to get a few more million out of the deal. However he realized that he had obviously underestimated Veronica, he should have realized that she was a lot more business savvy than perhaps she appeared.

"Alright you've got a deal," Brooks agreed. "I'll have the papers drawn up they should be ready tomorrow."

"Good," Veronica said. "Now if you don't mind I'd like to take a look around alone."

Brooks shrugged and then left with his real estate agent. Veronica watched them leave and then wandered over to the former chemical factory. Back during the incident being called the "The Riverdale Attacks" by the media there had been mention of not one, but two blurs. Veronica had quickly deduced that Betty wasn't the only speedster. She'd set about trying to figure out who the second speedster was, going first through Betty's family and then through her friends.

Her breakthrough had come when she'd learned that Betty had recently become friends with one Barry Allen who had moved to Riverdale from here in Central City. In going through Barry's past she had learned that he'd been in some sort of accident here on this very site which had involved a lightning strike. He had been in a coma for three months and had apparently woken up with absolutely no ill effects. Veronica however suspected that the incident had somehow given Barry super speed.

Veronica's plan was to figure out just what had happened and perhaps duplicate it. That would bring her closer to figuring out Betty Cooper's secrets. She took one last look around the factory before turning and leaving.

* * *

 _So my break was a little shorter than anticipated, the reason being that I was enticed into writing something for a contest over on DeviantArt and this story works perfectly for that so I made a few tweaks to my outline to add a couple chapters for that contest. Also I've got some new artwork over on DeviantArt of Betty from back in Chapter 27 so please check it out and please review._


	36. Chapter 35

**Chapter 35**

* * *

Betty was at her locker at the end of school gathering what books she needed to take home to do her homework. It had been two days since she been goaded into challenging Sheila and Betty had to admit she was somewhat curious to see what Sheila could produce. Sheila had been at home hard at work every day after school not hanging out with Betty and the others and she had showed up to school tired having clearly worked well into the night.

"Hey Betty you want me to bring anything?" somebody asked from behind her.

Betty closed her locker and turned around to see Maria Rodriguez and her boyfriend Frankie Valdez, the two had ended up being Home Coming King and Queen.

"Bring anything to what?" Betty asked confused.

"Your Halloween party," Maria said holding out a piece of paper.

Betty snatched it from Maria and looked it over.

"Halloween Party at the Cooper Farm!" it read. "Start time 7:30, BYOB."

"Where did you get this?" Betty asked.

"Jughead was handing them out," Frankie said taking it back from her. "He said it was your idea."

Without a word Betty walked off looking for Jughead. She found him at his locker talking with Raj Patel, an Indian boy who was obsessed with movies and movie-making. Raj was rarely seen without a camera in hand.

"Jughead, a word please," Betty said.

Before Jughead could say one way or another Betty grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him outside and took him around to the far side of the school before she grabbed him by his shirt and pinned him up against the school, his feet dangling well above the ground.

"Um… is this about the party?" Jughead asked nervously.

"No it's about eating the last of my tuna salad the other day," Betty responded sarcastically.

"Okay just so you know it wasn't my idea," Jughead said.

"Who's idea was it?" Betty asked.

"Polly's," Jughead replied.

Betty let go of Jughead and he dropped to the ground, his crown beanie falling off. He quickly bent down and put it back on.

"This was Polly's idea?" Betty inquired.

"Yeah, but she knew you'd be against it so that's why we didn't tell you," Jughead said.

"But you hate these sort of things, why are you in on it?" Betty asked.

"Normally I hate these things," Jughead corrected her. "But you remember the other how I said I always wanted to do that group costume thing the other day? Well this seems like the perfect place to do it."

"Oh dear god," Betty muttered.

"And obviously Sheila is in on it," Jughead added. "But so are your parents."

Betty sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

"I guess I'll just have to make the best of this," Betty said.

"Come on it'll be fun," Jughead said.

"Maybe," Betty agreed somewhat reluctantly. "What about Barry and Dilton."

"They'll both be there," Jughead said. "Barry agreed to help decorate and Dilton said he'd DJ, and participate in the group costume thing."

"Ugh I can't believe Sheila is going through with this," Betty complained as they walked back towards the front of the school.

"You know you're going to end up having to pants the whole football team," Jughead said.

"Does it make me a bad person to want her to fail?" Betty asked.

"Yes, but it also means your human," Jughead said. "Well somewhat in your case."

"Ha, ha, very funny," Betty responded sarcastically.

They made their way out front where Polly was waiting. Rather than get a truck again this time she had gone for the large SUV, getting a Dodge Durango. Part of her reasoning behind it was that Betty was getting more friends and they needed the seats to drive them all around, but she wasn't about to get a van and she had loved the truck so this was the best compromise. Polly was sitting in the vehicle waiting, and as Jughead and Betty made their way to the car Barry and Dilton joined them.

"Hey Betty," Barry greeted her.

Betty just glared at him.

"Uh…" Barry stammered.

"She found out about the party," Jughead said.

"Come on Betty it's just a party," Barry said. "And it'll be fun."

"You don't understand," Betty complained. "All my life I've tried not to stand out and not to be noticed because of what I can do."

"I think I understand just fine," Barry said. "But you can't just hide in the shadows, if anything that'll raise suspicion in and of itself. It certainly did with Veronica."

"I think her hitting me with a car had more to do with it," Betty retorted.

They all reached the car and got in. Betty climbed up in the front while Barry, Jughead and Dilton got in the back.

"Hey guys!" Polly greeted them cheerful.

"We are going to have a talk when we get home, in private," Betty said, a scowl on her face.

"She found out about the party didn't she?" Polly asked as she turned around to face the boys in the back.

"Maybe the invites weren't the best idea," Jughead commented. "We probably should have used e-vites."

"Hindsight is always twenty-twenty," Polly said.

"I think I still would have found out," Betty said grumpily.

"You know I don't really see what your problem is with this," Polly said to her sister. "It's just a party. And it's not like I'm not inviting my own friends."

Betty didn't say anything but just looked forward. She knew she was defeated on the issue and figured it was better to just shut up and accept it.

Polly shifted the car into gear and pulled away.

"I've got to make a stop at Pansky's on the way home to pick up stuff for my costume," Polly mentioned.

Pansky's was a costume shop named after the owner. He also had a small jewellery business on the side. Polly pulled into the parking lot and came to a stop. There were quite a few other cars there as well.

"Do you guys want to come in?" Polly asked. "It looks busy so it might be a little while."

"Sure, what do you need to get?" Jughead asked. "We might be able to help you find it."

"Well I'm being Jeannie from I Dream of Jeannie," Polly replied. "I'm just looking for something like the bottle she had in the show."

"You might have better luck at an antique dealer," Dilton said.

"It's a fairly popular costume I'm sure they've got something," Polly said.

They all got out and went into the store. It was indeed crowded with people shopping for Halloween costumes. They quickly ended up separated.

Betty ended up finding herself in the less crowded jewellery section. The more expensive stuff was kept in locked display cabinets, but there was some costume jewellery that was out to be looked at more closely.

Betty looked over some of the rings. Most of the insets looked faked our gaudy, but then she came to one that looked as though it were set with a fairly large sapphire. Betty glanced at the price tag and saw it was quite reasonable. She really liked the look of it so Betty decided to buy it.

Betty headed up to the front where she saw that Polly was already waiting in line to pay, Betty lined up behind her sister.

"Oh what are you getting Betty?" Polly asked.

"I found this ring," Betty said holding it up to show her.

"Oh, that's quite pretty," Polly commented. "It almost looks like a real sapphire."

"I know," Betty agreed. "I wonder what it actually is; it's not plastic."

"Maybe some kind of crystal?" Polly suggested.

Betty shrugged.

They paid for their items and after the others joined them went back to the car. They all got in and drove back home to the farm. Betty went up to her room and put the ring in her desk before going to join her friends in the barn. Barry was showing off with his ability to juggle ten things at once, one of which was a chainsaw.

"Knock it off Barry," Betty said as she reached out and snatched the chainsaw effortlessly with just one hand.

Barry caught everything else and set it down on the ground.

"Don't tell me you're going to be the same way at your party," Barry said.

Betty just shrugged as they made their way up to the loft where Dilton and Jughead were.

"So Betty you going to invite anyone to your party? You know a date?" Barry asked.

"No… I don't think I'm ready yet," Betty said as she remembered Jason.

"What about you Barry, you bringing someone?" Jughead asked.

"No," Barry replied as he flopped down onto one of the couches.

"Not interested in any of the girls at school?" Betty asked.

"That's not it," Barry replied. "I guess like you I'm not over my first love."

"Oh this is not something I've heard," Jughead said sitting up from where he was lying on the couch, suddenly interested. "Do tell more."

"I'm definitely intrigued by this," Betty said as she plopped down into one of the chairs and put her feet up on the coffee table.

"There's not much to tell," Barry said. "Her name was Iris, Iris West. I probably liked her more than she liked me, and her brother Daniel hated me."

"Older or younger?" Betty asked.

"Twin," Barry replied.

"Oh wow, that is a parallel," Jughead said. "Twins just like Jason and Cheryl."

"So what happened?" Betty inquired.

"After my… accident, while I was in the coma, Iris broke up with me, she started dating this guy Eddie, he's basically a blonde version of Reggie," Barry said. "She was a different person when I woke up, she wasn't quite as nice and she was sullen. I soon learned that it was because her mother had been killed."

"Oh what happened?" Jughead asked.

"It's a mystery," Barry replied. "She was home one night with Daniel and Iris, while their father Joe was at work, he's a cop. It was fairly late and Iris and Daniel were going to bed and suddenly they heard a cry from the kitchen and when they went downstairs they found their mother dead with a knife in their house."

"That's awful," Betty commented. "Did they catch whoever did it?"

"No, there were two sets of fingerprints on the weapon but they belonged to Iris and Daniel and they were both upstairs when it happened," Barry said.

"Could they have done it?" Jughead asked.

"They could have," Barry said. "But there was no motive and there was no reason not to believe their story. And then there was the strange fact that they both blamed me."

"They blamed you? But weren't you in a coma at the time?" Betty asked.

"Yes, I don't think I could have had a better alibi," Barry said. "It's part of the reason why I wasn't too upset to leave Central City."

"That's so weird," Jughead commented.

"Well forget them," Barry said with a shrug. "So what do you guys think we should do for decorations?"

Betty let out a sigh as Barry and Jughead talked about the party.

* * *

Veronica Lodge double checked the address on her phone. She was standing in front of a two story semi-detached home in Central City. After confirming that she had the right address Veronica walked up the short walkway and onto the small covered porch before ringing the doorbell. A few moments later the door opened a teenage boy with short brown hair answered.

"Hi," he greeted Veronica, however his tone was anything but welcoming.

"Are you Daniel West?" Veronica asked.

"Who are you?" the boy retorted.

Before Veronica could respond a girl with similar coloured hair tied back into a loose ponytail who was probably the same age appeared behind the boy.

"Oh my god Daniel, don't you recognize her? That's Veronica Lodge!" the girl exclaimed.

Daniel however didn't seemed impressed.

"What do you want?" he asked Veronica.

"I was hoping I could talk to you," Veronica replied. "May I come in?"

Daniel didn't get a chance to respond before the girl, likely his sister given how similar they looked, pulled him aside to let Veronica in. Veronica smiled as she entered the house.

"And I take it that you're Iris," Veronica said.

The girl nodded slightly as a shocked expression crossed her face.

"How do you know us?" Daniel asked suspiciously.

"Well let's sit down and discuss things," Veronica said.

Iris led the way to the living room. Veronica took a seat on the chair while Iris and Daniel sat down on the couch.

"So I understand that you two know a boy named Barry Allen," Veronica said.

"Yeah my sister dated the loser briefly," Daniel said his voice full of spite.

Veronica glanced over at Iris who has a rather angry expression on her face.

"I take it you don't like him much," Veronica observed.

"Barry Allen killed our mother," Iris said, venom in her tone and a deadly expression on her face.

"It's my understanding that he was in a coma at the time so perhaps you could explain," Veronica said.

"You don't believe us, just like the police didn't believe us," Daniel said.

Veronica had read over the police report concerning their mother's death which included the police's interview with the West twins, that was why Veronica had even come here in the first place.

"All I know is what I've read," Veronica said. "But I would like to hear just what you two saw that night."

"Well we were both upstairs," Iris said. "I was in the bathroom and Daniel was in his room, it was late like eleven or so. Our dad was at work, he's a cop so he works all hours."

"I was just about to climb into bed when I heard our mom scream from down in the kitchen," Daniel picked up the story. "I ran out of my room and down the stairs with Iris right behind me. As we ran into the kitchen I thought I saw a yellow flash or something."

"A yellow flash?" Veronica asked.

"I don't know it was just this blur, it was only there for a split second, not even a second like half a second and then it was gone." Daniel replied.

"Anyway," Iris continued. "We enter the kitchen and we see our mom lying on the floor the knife in her chest and blood is everywhere. There's this guy dressed in a red suit kneeling over her. Daniel yelled hey or something at him and he looked up and it was Barry Allen."

"You're sure?" Veronica inquired.

Both of the West twins nodded.

"It was definitely him," Iris said. "He looked a little bit older, I mean he had a bit of facial hair but otherwise it looked exactly like him."

"He looked up at us, his face was shocked and then suddenly he just vanished in his red blur." Daniel said.

Veronica sat back and considered for a moment. She could easily tell why the police didn't believe their story, but after what she had seen in Riverdale Veronica thought that it was certainly plausible.

"Well the police might not believe you, but I do," Veronica said.

"Well that's great but what good does that do us?" Daniel asked.

"I'm guessing the two of you would like to get revenge on Barry Allen," Veronica replied.

"He killed our mother and go away with it, of course we do," Iris stated unequivocally.

"Well I think I know how Barry might have done it," Veronica said. "And if I'm right with your help you can get that revenge."

* * *

 _Did Barry really kill Iris and Daniel's mother? And if he did why? Or was it someone else... perhaps that yellow blur? Only one way to find out. Please review!_


	37. Chapter 36

**Chapter 36**

* * *

It was the day before Halloween and Betty was in the barn along with Barry, Jughead, Dilton and Polly. Polly was down on the main level and was directing Barry in what to do with decorating the place while Jughead was reviewing the menu. Dilton was up in the loft and was apparently working on a music playlist, but he was just staring at his computer screen like he often did. Betty meanwhile was also up in the loft sitting on the couch not helping still sulking over the fact that this party was evening happening.

"You know Betty if you were helping this would go a lot faster," Polly called up to her sister.

"Just making a case for me not to help," Betty replied.

"Oh get over it," Polly retorted a hint of frustration in her tone.

Just then the barn door opened.

"Hey guys!" Sheila greeted everyone as she entered.

Everyone looked over to see that Sheila was carrying a pair of boxes.

"What's in the boxes?" Polly asked.

"Betty and Barry's costumes," Sheila replied.

Barry was over to Sheila in a flash, rather excited.

"Don't you want to try it on Betty?" Barry called up to Betty.

Betty somewhat reluctantly and slowly got up and came down from the loft, not bothering to use her super speed. Barry was practically bouncing with excitement beside Sheila as Betty made her way over to them.

"Come on put them on!" Sheila said excitedly as she handed Betty and Barry a box each.

Betty cracked the box open a bit and looked inside.

"Really?" Betty asked.

"Come on just put it on," Sheila said.

"I'll race you," Barry challenged Betty.

"Pretty sure you'll win," Betty said.

"I'll give you a one second head start," Barry offered.

Betty sighed and set the box on the ground and opened it. Then using her super speed she put the costume on. A second later Barry did the same. In less than a second the two of them were standing beside Sheila wearing the costumes she had made.

Barry's costume was a tight fitting full body suit that included a hood/mask combination that left only his mouth visible. It was a bright red and had a symbol that was a white circle with a lightning bolt on the chest.

"This is awesome Sheila!" Barry exclaimed as he looked down at himself.

Betty meanwhile wasn't quite so impressed. Her costume was a blue tight fitting long sleeved top with a short red mid-thigh skirt and a pair of red boots. There was also a red cape and a small mask that covered her eyes and nose. Betty tugged at the fabric looking a little unimpressed.

"What's with the mask?" Betty asked Sheila.

"To hide your identity of course," Sheila replied.

"And the cape?" Betty inquired.

"Well you can jump really high right? So you can use it to sort of glide like that Bat guy in Gotham does," Sheila said. "I got the idea when I saw that video of him last week."

Betty had seen the same video, however that man's cape had been made from a rather sturdy fabric; not the red nylon or whatever it was that this cape was made from.

"The idea is nice but I don't think it's going to actually work," Betty said.

Sheila's face fell.

"You hate it don't you?" Sheila asked disappointedly.

"I don't hate it," Betty said. "Honestly I'm impressed you were able to make this so quickly. But the cape is just…"

"Just what?" Sheila asked.

"It's not going to work how you want," Betty said. "It'll either rip or I'll just end up plummeting down to earth like I normally would."

"Well why don't we go and test it?" Jughead suggested.

Everyone else agreed and chimed in.

"Alright fine," Betty relented.

Everyone except for Dilton who was still busy on his computer went outside the barn and Betty stood lined up with the field. After making sure that there weren't any cars nearby, she took three running steps before she leapt up into the air. Betty launched herself a good two hundred feet up. She then grabbed the edges of the cape to try and glide down to earth. However as she had suspected, the material was far too flimsy to let her catch the air and she came plummeting down to the ground. She was able to land running but her feet sank into the dirt and she ended up running out of her boots which got stuck.

She was pulling the boots out of the ground and wiping them off when the other came running over.

"Okay so maybe you were right," Sheila admitted.

Betty decided not to rub it in, but just gave Sheila a smug smile before leading the way back to the barn. Betty picked up her clothes and the box the costume had come in when she did.

"I'm going to go put this up in my room," she said. "I'll be back in a bit."

Betty made her way back to the farm house, going in through the side door that entered the kitchen. Inside her mother was in the kitchen baking. Alice was making cookies and cupcakes for the party tomorrow.

"Oh is that your costume Betty?" Alice asked as Betty came inside.

"I guess so," Betty said.

"Betty your friend worked hard to make that," Alice scolded her. "You should show a little more appreciation."

"Yes mom," Betty muttered as she made her way through the kitchen to the stairs and went up to the room she had claimed as hers, which had been her mother's room when she had grown up here.

Betty stopped and looked at herself in the mirror. She had to admit that Sheila had done amazingly well in make the dress proportionate for her, despite the fact that Betty hadn't helped her with measurements or anything.

Betty then noticed that the ring she had bought the other day was sitting out on her dresser. She picked it up and put it on. The blue of the crystal actually matched the blue of the costume.

"Hmm maybe I can wear this with it," Betty thought to herself. "I get my powers from a magical ring or something. Not because I'm an alien."

Just then she heard something outside her window. Betty ran to the window and opened it up.

"Betty, Dilton just picked up something about an armed bank robbery in Greendale," Barry said. "Come on now is our chance to prove ourselves."

"What?" Betty asked confused.

However Barry suddenly took off. Betty cursed silently for a second before taking off after Barry. She didn't catch him until he came to a stop outside the bank in Greendale about half a block away. The place was surrounded by squad cars.

"Apparently they've taken hostages," Barry said. "Dilton picked up a call from Greendale to Riverdale asking if they could spare some officers, it sounds like they've got some heavy weaponry."

"And you figured we can just run in?" Betty asked.

"No, obviously we have to come up with a plan," Barry said. "This won't be like when we stopped Midge."

"It would help if we knew what they were after," Betty said. "If it were simply cash I think they would have gotten out of here before the police arrived."

"That's probably true," Barry agreed. "Do you think maybe it's something in a safety deposit box?"

"That seems likely," Betty said.

"Well how about I handle the guys watching the hostages you get the guys in the safety deposit box room?" Barry suggested.

"I don't know, I mean that's putting the hostages in danger," Betty said.

"We can't do nothing," Barry said.

"Yes we can, we let the police do their job," Betty said.

"No, I'm going in," Barry said.

Before Betty could stop him Barry raced pass the police blockade and into the bank. With a sigh Betty went after him.

Inside Betty saw Barry had already disarmed one of the robbers guarding the hostages and was in the process of disarming the second one. Betty didn't see any others so she made her way towards the back of the bank she saw three men inside the safety deposit room opening up safety deposit boxes.

Suddenly she came to a dead stop feeling weak, she quickly realized what it was. There was green meteor rock in one of the open safety deposit boxes that one of the men had tossed out into the hallway. Betty dropped to one knee as she felt her strength drain away. She didn't notice crystal on the ring on her finger glow momentarily. A moment later Barry was there.

"Betty I…" he said then noticed that she was down.

Betty pointed at the meteor rock and Barry instantly understood. He grabbed it and sped off. However as he did the men in the room suddenly noticed Betty. Once the meteor rock was gone Betty got to her feet.

"You're a little early for Halloween girl," one of the men said as he pointed a pistol at Betty.

Betty just gave him a half smile. She went to run in and stop them but she went about two steps before she realized she wasn't moving at her super speed. As she came to a stop the man fired his gun and Betty suddenly felt a pain in her left shoulder. She looked down at it and noticed she was bleeding.

"What the…" she muttered before she dropped to the ground.

A moment later Barry reappeared and he saw Betty on the ground. He quickly ran and disarmed and knocked out the three remaining thieves before picking Betty up and racing back to the farm with her.

* * *

Veronica arrived at her recently acquired bit of real estate. She watched as multiple flatbed trucks wheeled into some large transformers. Her plan was to try and recreate the accident that had put Barry Allen into a coma. Of course generating the same voltage as a lightning bolt was going to be difficult.

Veronica had considered perhaps building a lightning rod to try and tap an actually lightning bolt, but unfortunately the weather for the next month in Central City looked to be relatively clear, and she needed to work fast to avoid the suspicion of her father.

Just then she received a call from him. Annoyed Veronica answered the phone.

"Yes father?" Veronica answered brusquely.

"Veronica why are you purchasing a great deal of electrical transformers?" Her father Hiram inquired.

"Well since my other research was kyboshed by you firing me I decided to move onto working on alternative energy ideas," Veronica lied hoping her father bought it.

There was a pause on the other end.

"Alright, let me know how things go," Hiram said before abruptly ending the call.

Veronica looked at her phone surprised. She had expected her father to be far more suspicious of whatever she was doing. That in and of itself made Veronica suspicious as to just what her father was up to. However she knew that she needed focus on her current work.

Just then a black sedan pulled up nearby. Moments later Daniel and Iris West got out, Veronica walked over to meet them.

"What's going on here? What is all this?" Iris asked.

"I'm sure you're aware that this is the place where Barry was found in a coma," Veronica said.

"Yeah so?" Daniel asked not caring.

"So from my understanding there was some sort of accident where he was struck by lightning," Veronica replied. "I'm going to try and recreate that accident."

"Why?" Iris asked.

"Because I believe that the accident gave Barry powers; powers that somehow allowed him to travel through time, and that's how he killed your mother," Veronica answered.

"Why would Barry from the future want to kill our mother?" Daniel questioned.

Veronica shrugged as she replied, "I can't know a person's motives."

"So why do you want to recreate the accident?" Iris asked.

"Because then I can give you the same powers that Barry has and you can go back and save your mother," Veronica replied. "But only if you want to."

Daniel and Iris looked at each other for a moment, both of them clearly considering what Veronica was offering.

"We'll do it," they both said simultaneously.

Veronica smiled and nodded.

"Then we've got quite a bit of work to do," Veronica said.

* * *

 _Uh oh, what happened to Betty? And did Veronica really learn nothing from the whole Midge ordeal? And which of the West twins will get the powers? Daniel, Iris or Both? And will those powers even be like Barry's? Things to come in the upcoming chapters. Also this is a little story line I added in for a contest over on DeviantArt to write a story where the main character loses their powers. I'd link to it if I could but unfortunately there's no sharing of links. Message me if you're interested to check it out. And as always, please review._


	38. Chapter 37

**Chapter 37**

* * *

Jughead, Polly, Sheila and Dilton were up in the loft of the barn listening to the police scanner to hear how things were going for Barry and Betty.

"We've got shots fired!" they heard.

They were all slightly concerned. Not really for either Betty or Barry but for the hostages. However when Barry showed up just a few seconds later with a bleeding Betty in his arms that concern soon changed.

"Oh my god what happened?" Polly asked.

"I don't know," Barry replied as he and Jughead carried Betty up to the loft and put her on one of the couches.

Sheila grabbed a pair of scissors and cut up the cape of Betty's costume to make a bandage as Polly looked at the wound.

"She's been shot!" Polly exclaimed.

"I know," Barry said as he pulled off the hood of his costume. "I don't know how that happened."

"Everyone calm down," Dilton said taking charge of the situation.

Everyone was quiet as they looked at Dilton.

"Sheila give that bandage to Jughead, Jughead press that against the wound and hold it as tight as you can," Dilton said. "Sheila I want you to go get your sewing kit, we're probably going to need to stitch that wound."

They both did as Dilton instructed.

"What about me?" Polly asked.

"The bullet is probably still in there," Dilton said. "We'll need tweezers or something like that, try and find something. And some rubbing alcohol to sterilize it."

Polly ran off to find what Dilton asked for.

"Barry, go sit down in that chair," Dilton ordered.

"But I can…" Barry protested.

"Sit down," Dilton said firmly.

Barry walked over to the chair and sat down. Dilton followed and sat on the coffee table facing him.

"I want you to tell me everything you can about what happened prior to Betty being shot," Dilton said.

"I don't see how that…" Barry began to argue.

"I need you to tell me what you remember to see if we can figure out how our bulletproof friend here now has a bullet lodged in her shoulder," Dilton said.

"Well we showed up at the bank and… and I guess I ran in without having much of a plan," Barry said. "I took out the robbers guarding the hostages while Betty went to the back where three of them were getting into the safety deposit boxes."

"And what happened back there?" Dilton asked.

"I'm not sure but I went back there and Betty was on the ground and there was some green meteor rock nearby," Barry said. "I grabbed it and quickly ran it out of the bank but when I came back in Betty had been shot. I don't know if I was quick enough."

"Do you remember where you were when you heard the sound of the shot?" Dilton asked.

"Outside the bank throwing the meteor rock into a dumpster," Barry replied.

Dilton nodded and stood up.

"It wasn't your fault Barry," Dilton said.

"What do you mean?" Barry asked.

"The meteor rock has to be in close proximity to Betty to affect her," Dilton said. "With several thick walls between you she should have been fine which means that it's something else."

Just then Polly returned with a pair of tweezers and a bottle of rubbing alcohol, followed by Sheila with her sewing kit. Dilton took the tweezers from Polly and poured the alcohol on them and then knelt down beside Betty.

"Do you know what you're doing?" Jughead asked worriedly.

"I've got a pretty good idea," Dilton replied confidently.

"Shouldn't we call an ambulance?" Sheila asked.

"And tell them what exactly?" Dilton retorted. "And we don't know how she'll react to medication or a blood transfusion. Remember she's not human."

They all nodded but were still worried. Jughead pulled the bandage aside and Dilton looked in and examined the wound. He then dug in with the tweezers and after a few moments he was able to pull the bullet free.

"Sheila hand me the needle," Dilton said.

"No let me," Sheila said shoving her way in. "I can sew this up better then you."

The others watched nervously as Sheila quickly and efficiently stitched up the wound. Soon it was sewn up and the bleeding stopped.

"Now what?" Barry asked.

"Now we have to try and figure out what made Betty lose her powers," Dilton replied.

Just then Alice came running into the barn.

"Betty, Betty!" she exclaimed.

"She's okay Mom," Polly said. "Dilton took out the bullet and Sheila stitched the wound up."

Alice reached the loft and knelt down beside her unconscious daughter.

"I don't understand, how could this happen?" Alice asked.

"That's what we're trying to figure out," Jughead replied.

Just then Betty began to stir.

"She's coming too," Dilton said. "Everybody step back and give her some space.

"Ugh, what… where," Betty muttered as she opened her eyes.

"Don't do too much," Dilton said.

Betty sat up and winced as pain shot through her shoulder. She looked down to see the stitched up injury.

"What… I was shot?" Betty asked confused. "How?"

"We're not sure, we were hoping you could tell us," Sheila said.

"I don't, I don't know," Betty said.

"Barry has given us some of the detail," Dilton said. "There was some green meteor rock, but what happened after Barry took it away."

"Well he took it away and I felt fine again," Betty recalled. "And I got up and went to disarm them… and my speed. I was moving like normal. Before I could figure it out that was when I got shot."

"Do you remember seeing anything else, anything at all?" Dilton asked.

"No, there were a few empty safety deposit boxes but that was it," Betty replied.

Betty winced in pain once more and brought her hand up to touch the wound. That was when Dilton noticed the ring on her finger.

"What's that?" Dilton asked.

"It's a ring, I doubt it at Pansky's," Betty said.

"Let me see it," Dilton said.

Betty tried to take it off but the ring seemed stuck.

"It, it's stuck," Betty stammered in surprise.

"Let me see," Alice said.

Alice took Betty's hand in her own and tried to get the ring off. However it was indeed stuck.

"What kind of stone is that?" Dilton asked.

Betty shrugged and then winced from the gesture. Dilton knelt down beside Alice and took a look at it.

"I think this is a blue meteor rock," Dilton declared.

"Blue meteor rock?" Jughead asked. "How do you know?"

"I've examined my fair share of the green ones," Dilton replied. "They all have a common feature with these small little snow flake like things inside them, it's unlike anything here on Earth. This rock has those same little flakes."

"Well that's great but what do we do?" Polly asked.

"We have to destroy it," Dilton replied.

"Okay and just how are we going to do that when it's stuck on Betty's finger?" Sheila asked.

"With Barry's help," Dilton replied.

Barry had been standing back and suddenly everyone was looking at him.

"What, me? How can I help?" Barry asked confused.

"You can create a vibration on the stone by rubbing it very fast," Dilton explained. "Those little flakes inside weaken it making it susceptible to shattering."

Barry nodded as he understood. Dilton took Betty's hand into his and gentle set it down on the coffee table.

"I need to warn you Betty," Dilton said. "This is probably going to hurt. Barry might accidentally dislocate or break your finger."

"It can't hurt any worse than being shot," Betty responded with a forced laugh followed by yet another wince of pain.

Dilton nodded and then looked up at Barry and gave him a nodded. Barry placed two fingers on the ring and began rubbing them back and forth. His fingers soon became an almost transparent blur they were moving so fast. Suddenly there was a crack and Betty let out a howl of pain as her finger was broken.

"Oh god that hurts more than being shot!" Betty exclaimed.

"Don't stop," Dilton shouted at Barry over Betty's cries of agony.

Barry furrowed his brow and concentrated continuing to rub. Suddenly a crack appeared in the stone and then seconds later it exploded in a cloud of dust. Barry let out a small triumphant cry as he stopped.

Betty pulled her hand away looking at her finger which was hanging loosely. She reached up and pushed her finger back into place wincing as she did. Moments later it was looking normal.

Everyone was looking at Betty's gunshot wound and as they watched the skin suddenly healed over quickly popping the stiches out. In matter of moments Betty was back to normal.

"I worked…" Betty said slowly and a bit surprised. "It worked!"

She stood and high fived Barry. Barry winced in pain from the force.

"Oh yeah… your strength is back," Barry grunted as he shook his sore hand.

"Oh I'm so sorry Barry," Betty apologized.

"It's alright," Barry said. "I heal fast."

Alice hugged Betty.

"Oh thank god," Alice said. "Don't you ever do that to me again."

"Trust me mom, I won't," Betty said.

Alice let go of the hug and Betty saw that her mom had been crying. Alice quickly wiped the tears away.

"Well this couch is now a mess," Alice said. "I'll go get something so we can clean it up."

She quickly hurried out of the barn, Polly went with her to help.

"Thanks so much for saving me there Barry," Betty said.

"Not a problem," Barry said. "But the one you should be thanking is Dilton."

"Yeah, he really took charge of the situation and he's the one that took the bullet out of you," Jughead added.

"Although I stitched you up," Sheila added.

"Well thank you, all of you," Betty said. "Especially you Dilton."

"Between you and Barry you saved us from death by radiation poisoning, you saved us from Ambrose twice and there's the other lives you've saved as well, I think it's the least we could do to save yours this one time," Dilton responded.

Betty felt like she was on the verge of tears, but she did her best to hold them back.

"You know what, I'm really glad that I'm still alive," Betty said. "Enough that I think I might want to have a party."

That drew a laugh from her friends.

* * *

It was Halloween and the party was underway. Betty, Polly and their friends were surprised at the large turnout; there had to be close to one hundred and fifty guests. About eighty or so were fellow students from Riverdale High while another thirty-five were friends of Polly's from college or work.

Alice and Hal had held no illusions that there wouldn't be drinking at this party, despite the fact that the majority of the party-goers would be underage. Instead they collected the keys for the cars of everybody that arrived and they wouldn't get them back unless they could prove they were sober.

Betty and Barry were up in the loft along with Dilton who was DJ-ing while the rest of the party was down below. There were decorations hung up all over the barn as well as two tables laid out with snacks and candy. The party had been styled bring your own booze and the guests had brought quite a lot of booze. Unfortunately neither Betty nor Barry was able to get drunk. Betty figured it was result of her alien DNA, while in Barry's case he actually did get drunk but it was only for a few seconds as his body metabolised the alcohol extremely quickly. Still that didn't stop the two of them from at least trying.

"You willing to admit you were wrong about this party?" Barry asked as he and Betty stood at the banister looking down.

In response Betty took a big swig from a large 60 ounce bottle of whiskey. After she had she let out a disgusted gasp.

"God that's awful, why do I keep drinking it?" Betty asked as she passed the bottle to Barry.

"Maybe you are getting drunk," Barry replied.

Barry then took a huge swig drinking nearly a quarter of the bottle. He staggered about for a few seconds before shaking his head and regaining his balance.

"I felt a little something there," Barry said.

"Must be nice," Betty said.

"Let me ask you something, if you could have invited anybody to this party who would you have invited?" Barry asked.

"Why are you asking?" Betty responded.

"Just curious," Barry replied.

"Well if there weren't certain obvious obstacles, I'd invite Archie," Betty answered the original question.

"Ah yes, his meteor rock necklace," Barry said.

"And he's dating Ginger still, I'm surprised they haven't broken up yet," Betty commented.

"That too," Barry agreed.

"So how about you?" Betty asked. "Who would you have invited?"

Barry considered for a long moment as he looked down at the party.

"I don't know… maybe Cheryl if she was still around," Barry replied.

"Really?" Betty asked with a smirk.

"Well I did save her life twice," Barry stated with a shrug. "I figure she'd owe me."

Just then one of the guests came staggering up the stairs to the loft. She was dressed in a sort nurse-bondage costume, her blonde hair tied into two ponytails and her face painted up in clown makeup.

"Where's the DJ?" she asked her speech somewhat slurred indicating she was drunk.

Betty almost immediately recognized her voice. It was a hard one to forget.

"Doctor Quinzel?" Betty asked.

"Do I know you… blue lady?" Harleen Quinzel asked.

"Um, we met briefly at Belle Reeve when I was visiting a friend," Betty replied.

"Oh… oh yeah that mind controlled kid," Harleen said before she turned to Barry. "And who are you supposed to be red man? Captain Lightning Bolt?"

Barry wasn't entirely sure how to respond.

"What did you come up here for?" Betty asked.

"I want to hear some Lady Gaga," Harleen said.

Betty nodded her head towards Barry telling him to go speak with Dilton. Betty then carefully helped Dr. Quinzel back down the stairs.

"Out of curiosity who invited you?" Betty asked.

"Oh I was invited by the mind controlled kid, Adam," Dr. Quinzel replied. "Just between you and me I think he developed a crush on me when he was there."

Betty wasn't aware that Adam was here, she did know that he had finally been released. Of course with all the costumes it was difficult to tell who everybody was.

Just then Lady Gaga's Pokerface came on.

"I LOVE THIS SONG!" Harleen screamed as she began dancing about wildly.

Betty just stepped back chuckled to herself as she watched. She had definitely been wrong about this party, and to think she almost hadn't lived to see this because of a stupid blue rock.

* * *

It had taken about a week for Veronica to get all of the equipment set up but she was ready to begin her experiment. Of course she needed to test the equipment first to see if it could generate the necessary voltage of nearly one hundred million volts. She went over to check with her technicians before the test.

"The system will generate the voltage you want, but I don't see how it won't end up damaging itself in the process," the head technician said. "As far as I can tell you will only have one shot at this."

That was disappointing news as far as Veronica was concerned. She'd managed to recreate the scenario that gave Barry his powers as best as she could manage.

"Forgo the test then," Veronica instructed them. "We're going to try this."

She called up the West twins and a short while later the two of them arrived at the site.

"Thank you for coming so quickly," Veronica said. "We're probably only going to get one shot at this since this experiment will likely damage the equipment beyond repair."

Iris and Daniel both looked at each other seemingly sharing thoughts.

"Let's do it," Daniel said for both of them.

The twins were taken into the same room where Barry had been. Veronica and her technicians were outside manning the equipment. Once Veronica was certain everything was as it had been the night of Barry's accident she signalled the test to begin.

The large generators she'd brought in wound up building up voltage. There was an audible hum as power flowed through a series of high capacity wires. Then all of a sudden there was a loud crack and a bright flash and suddenly the entire system exploded in a shower of sparks. The technicians ran around putting out small fires.

However Veronica didn't care about the equipment, she wanted to know if her theory had been right; if the test had worked. She made her way into the room and found Daniel and Iris both lying on the ground not moving just a few feet away from each other. Veronica knelt down next to Iris and verified that she was still alive, she then checked on Daniel and noted that he was alive as well. Both seemed to be in comas which was to be expected.

"Bring the medical team in!" Veronica called. "We're transferring them to my facility."

Veronica watched as Iris and Daniel were loaded onto stretchers and taken to a pair of ambulances. Now it was just a matter of waiting for them to wake up and see if it had been a success.

* * *

 _Did Veronica succeed. Well we won't know for a while still. There will definitely be a bit of a gap now between chapters. These past few chapters were slightly modified and done for the sake on a contest over on DeviantArt. I might have a little one-off chapter coming up with a cameo or two of some DC characters. As always Please Review!_


	39. Interlude - A Day At The Ballpark

**Interlude – Day at the Ballpark**

* * *

 _The following story is a flash back with no effect on the main story. I wrote it as a thank you for my page views over on DeviantArt, but I'm also putting it here as thank you for reading._

* * *

"Are we there yet? Are we there yet? Are we there yet?"

Hal Cooper sighed as he looked into the rear view mirror to look at his nine year old daughter Betty in the back seat. She was excitedly wearing her Philadelphia Phillies ball cap and jersey, her favourite baseball team.

"Will you be quiet," Hal's son fifteen year-old Chic said from the front passenger seat as he turned around to face his sister.

"But it's my first ball game!" Betty exclaimed. "I'm so excited."

The three of them were in the car on the highway on their way to Philadelphia to watch the Phillies. They were just a few minutes outside the city.

"Yeah well, your team is going to lose," Chic taunted her.

Chic was wearing his New York Mets ball cap and jersey, his favourite baseball team. The Mets were the opponent of the Phillies today.

"Nuh-uh," Betty disagreed. "Your team is gonna lose!"

The two argued back and forth while Hal continued to navigate through traffic, eventually getting off the highway. Soon they were pulling into the ballpark huge parking lot.

"Can I get a cheesesteak?" Betty asked as they made their way through the parking lot to the stadium.

"Sure," Hal agreed.

As they were on their way in they passed a fastest pitch game.

"Can I try dad?" Chic asked.

Hal sighed, "Alright."

He paid the attendant and then the attendant gave Chic three balls. Chic stepped up and threw his first pitch which hit 66 miles per hour. His next pitch was also 66 miles per hour, and his last one was 69 miles per hour.

"Pretty good," the attendant said, "And how about you little lady do you want to try?"

Betty looked expectantly at her father.

"Betty I don't…" Hal began to say.

"You don't want to be the father than plays favourites," the attendant said.

Hal reluctantly coughed over the money to the attendant who went to retrieve the balls.

"Don't you dare show how hard you can actually throw it," Hal whispered a warning to his daughter.

Betty nodded as the attendant returned with the balls. He handed them to Betty and she stepped up to throw her first pitch. It went in at a rather plausible 45 miles per hour. Her second pitch was a little quicker at 51 miles per hour.

"That's pretty good for a little girl," the attendant said.

"She can't beat me," Chic commented with a laugh.

Betty glanced over at her brother and smirked and then reared back and threw her final pitch. The radar gun clocked it at 70 miles per hour, one mile faster than Chic's best.

"Oh my goodness," the attendant said. "I think the Phillies should sign you!"

"Really?" Betty asked not realizing he was joking.

"Well, maybe when you're older," the attendant said. "You're still a little girl."

Betty was a little disappointed but nodded.

"But you still win a prize," the attendant said.

He handed Betty a teddy bear that was wearing a Phillies jersey and hat. Betty took it and hugged it.

"Thank you!" she said excitedly.

Betty, Chic and Hal then went into the stadium. They made their way to their seats which where along the left field line just beyond the third base bag about four rows back.

"You two watch the seats I'll go get the snacks," Hal said.

Betty and Chic sat in their seats watching the players do their warm ups as they talked about the game. Just as they were preparing for the national anthem Hal returned with the snacks, including the cheesesteak that Betty had asked for. Once the anthem was done they sat down to watch the game. Chic was sitting beside the aisle with Hal between him and Betty to try and prevent arguments, which were quite common between the two siblings when their favourite teams played each other.

Betty was biting into her cheesesteak when the woman sitting beside her turned to her.

"Are you sure you should be eating that little girl?" she asked.

"But I like cheese and I like steak," Betty replied not really understanding the question.

The woman turned to Hal.

"You let your little girl eat this?" she asked incredulously.

Hal glanced over to see that the woman had a boy who was probably eleven or twelve with her who was wolfing down popcorn.

"Maybe you should worry about your own kid," Hal said.

Betty looked at her father and grinned before chowing down on her cheesesteak. The first batter from the Mets hadn't even finished his at bat before Betty had finished it off.

"Napkin!" Betty exclaimed, bit of melted cheese hanging from the corners of her mouth.

Hal handed her a napkin as the woman next to Betty looked on in disgust.

* * *

The fourth inning had finished and the Mets were winning 3-1. Betty was a little disappointed and Chic kept taunting her about it. After the top of the fifth finished and the Mets scored another run to go up 4-1 Chic got up to use the bathroom. He was gone for a while as the fifth inning had finished by the time he returned. When he did he had with him what was quite possible the most outrageous thing anyone had seen, a nine patty cheeseburger.

"Chic why did you buy that?" Hal asked angrily.

"It's for Betty," Chic said. "I felt bad that her team was losing."

He leaned across and handed the burger to Betty, who took it and sat it on her lap.

"Oh don't tell me you're going to eat that?" the woman sitting beside Betty asked.

"Sure," Betty said.

"You have about as much of a chance of finishing that as the Phillies do of winning this game," the woman said.

Beside Betty Hal shook his head. He knew that his daughter had a competitive streak in her.

"I'll finish it," Betty declared emphatically to the woman.

Betty began hungrily eating the preposterously oversized burger. She was still a little full from the cheesesteak she'd already eaten, but Betty had a very large appetite for a girl her size and weight.

The seventh inning finished with the Mets still up 4-1 and Betty was about two-thirds of the way through the massive burger. She slowly and methodically kept on eating despite the fact that it was starting to get cold.

"You know you don't have to finish that," her father said.

"If I finish it that means the Phillies can win," Betty responded.

Hal just sighed, smiled and shook his head. His daughter had such strange ideas some times.

"You know if you eat all that you're going to end up fat," the woman beside Betty told her.

Betty looked up at the woman like she was crazy.

"No I won't," Betty said. "I can just run it off."

Just then there was a crack and a line drive foul ball came screeching straight towards them. The woman beside Betty glanced up to see the ball was heading right for her head. Then out of nowhere Betty jumped up and caught the ball with her bare hand. The crowd around them was stunned for a moment and then they all began cheering.

"I… I… thank you," the woman said to Betty.

Betty just grinned before sitting back down. She tossed the ball over to Chic.

"Why are you giving it to me?" Chic asked.

"Consolation for when your Mets lose," Betty replied with a grin.

She then began munching away at her burger yet again.

* * *

The bottom of the ninth came around and the Mets still had a 4-1 lead. The majority of the crowd booed as their closer made his way in from the bullpen. Betty was almost finished her burger, there was just a bit of one patty left, about four mouthfuls worth.

As she took the first mouthful and chewed the closer threw a pitch inside that caught the first batter on shoulder. He dropped to the ground in pain but got up and made his way to first.

Betty was chewing on the second mouthful as the next batter came up. On the first pitch he cracked the ball between first and second where there was a big gap because the first baseman was holding the runner on for a single.

The third batter came up as Betty was on her third mouthful and he was walked on four straight pitches to load the base which brought up the Phillies clean-up hitter.

Betty excitedly stuff the last of the burger into her mouth and chewed as fast as she could as she stood up and cheered with the rest of the fans. Two seats over Chic was sitting with his eyes closed and fingers crossed praying for a miracle.

The pitcher deliver his first pitch and the batter swung and missed for a strike.

"Come on!" Betty cheered her mouth still full of food.

The second pitch came in, a second strike.

Betty swallowed. If he didn't at least drive in a run here then the Phillies were in trouble, the next batter had ground out three times already today and another ground out by him could end the game on a double play.

The third pitch came in. CRACK! The ball sailed what seemed like a mile up into the air. The fans went nuts as it arced back towards the fence in center field. The Mets' centerfielder ran back towards the wall and leapt up but the ball was just out of his reach as it dropped on the other side of the fence for a home run.

The crowd went crazy as fireworks went off and the scoreboard flashed a victory message.

"I told you! I told you!" Betty shouted at the woman next to her.

Betty danced around wildly celebrating her team's victory.

* * *

That night Betty was watching Sports Center with her father wanting to relive the excitement of the walk off win.

"Now watch this in the top of the eighth," the broadcaster said. "A foul ball goes flying into the stands, it's about to hit this woman when out of nowhere this little girl makes and amazing barehanded catch."

"I'm surprised her little hand was able to palm the ball," his co-host said.

"And watch this she then hands the ball to her brother who's a Mets fan," the broadcaster said. "Perhaps an omen of things to come."

"I'm on TV!" Betty exclaimed excitedly.

However Hal wasn't entirely happy.

"You can't do things like that Betty, especially in public like that" Hal said. "People are going to ask questions, questions that we can't answer."

"But that woman was going to get hit with the ball," Betty protested.

"Accidents happen," Hal said. "I'm not saying that you shouldn't help people, far from it. But you've got to be careful about what you do."

Betty's excitement had faded, she was disappointed that this had turned into her father scolding her. Hal realized that his daughter was upset and he hugged.

"I'm not mad at you," Hal said as he hugged Betty. "But just like you were protecting that woman, I'm trying to protect you."

"I know daddy," Betty responded as she hugged back.

The two of them broke off the hug.

"So can we go again if I promise not to catch any more foul balls?" Betty asked.

Hal chuckled at the question.

"You can catch foul balls, just next time use a glove," Hal said.

A look a realization slowly crossed Betty's face. She then ran off to find one of Chic's old baseball gloves for the next time they went to a game.

* * *

 _This was just a little Interlude flash back I wrote for some fun as I said above and it has nothing to do with the main story, except perhaps to show Betty's relationship with her brother Chic, who has only appeared in flashbacks so far but he will be appearing in the present in an upcoming chapter. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this, I know I certainly had fun writing it. Thanks again for reading and please leave a review._


	40. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38**

* * *

It was the day before Thanksgiving. The Coopers were still living out at the farm, the progress on their house had been delayed by the fact that partway through reconstruction they had discovered that the foundation had been damaged and needed to be repaired, a job that set the time frame back by two weeks. All told they weren't expected to get their new house until nearly Christmas.

Betty didn't mind though, she liked living out on the farm. There was something to be said for sure about the increased privacy. She'd found she was able to use her powers a little more freely out here.

One thing she had been doing was trying to gain control of her heat vision. It had been tricky at first, she wasn't entirely sure how to even activate. However she soon learned that concentrating on painful memories like Jason's death activated it. With some practice she was able to learn to control it, although in the process she ended up burning down a few trees and setting a few scarecrows on fire.

Betty came downstairs as she was getting ready to go to school and stepped into the kitchen. Her mother was already in there looking a little sadly at her phone.

"Is something wrong mom?" Betty asked.

"No," Alice replied looking up. "It's just your brother. He said he wouldn't be able to come home until Christmas."

"Oh, that kind of sucks," Betty said. "I was looking forward to seeing him."

"So was I," Alice said. "It's been so long since he was home, and so much has happened."

Betty nodded as she grabbed an apple from the refrigerator.

"Well at least he will be home for Christmas," Betty said.

"Well, have fun at school," Alice said.

Betty wandered over to the stairs.

"Polly, could you hurry up I'm going to be late!" Betty called up the stairs.

Moments later Polly came hurrying down the stairs still fussing with her hair.

"You know some of us don't wake up looking perfect," Polly complained.

"It's not my fault," Betty said. "Just another one of my many powers."

The two sisters left the house and got into Polly's SUV and drove into town. Polly dropped Betty off outside Jughead's house so she could walk to school with him and Sheila. Moments later Jughead came outside to join Betty. They then walked down the block and met up with Sheila.

"Where's Dilton today?" Betty asked.

"He and his parents left yesterday to go drive down to Kentucky to meet up with the rest of his family," Jughead replied. "Didn't he tell you?"

"He did, it just slipped my mind," Betty replied.

As they were nearing school a black unmarked SUV came skidding to a stop beside them. The rear passenger door opened and someone Betty recognized sprang out.

"Betty you need to come with me," Cricket said.

"Cricket? What are you doing here?" Betty asked.

"Just come with me," Cricket said taking Betty's hand.

She tried to pull Betty into the vehicle, but Betty easily held her ground.

"You're going to tell me what's going on first," Betty said.

"There's an issue that I need your help with," Cricket replied.

Just then the window of the front passenger window rolled down. Betty, Jughead and Sheila looked to see a woman with short spikey dark hair and bright green eyes.

"Why are you trying to grab some teenage girl Jackpot?" the woman asked.

"This girl can help us," Cricket replied. "And I seem to recall you getting taken down by a teenager back in Gotham, Selina."

"That was one time. And he only got the drop on me because of the Bat," the woman, Selina, protested.

"Jackpot?" Betty asked confused.

"It's a code name," Cricket said.

"I like it," Jughead commented. "You're the one with the money powers right?"

Cricket nodded.

"Look, I'm sure you'll want to help with this," Cricket said to Betty. "We're pretty sure Hiram Lodge is involved."

That piqued Betty's attention. For the past two months the Lodge's had been laying pretty low, and that was something that Betty felt was concerning.

"Fine, you've got my help." Betty agreed. "Jughead, Sheila can you cover for me at school?"

"No problem," Jughead agreed.

"You might need this," Sheila said as she reached into her bag.

She pulled out the costume that Betty had worn back at Halloween.

"Why do you have this and why would I need it?" Betty asked.

"To protect your identity but still let people know you're a hero," Sheila said. "And because I knew you would need it again eventually."

Betty wasn't sure how to respond, but before she could the bell rang at the school.

"Crap we're gonna be late," Jughead exclaimed.

He and Sheila took off leaving Betty still holding the costume.

"It's a little… gauche, but your friend is right," Cricket said. "You might need to protect your identity here."

"And why would I need to do that?" Betty asked.

"Get in and I'll explain," Cricket replied.

Betty climbed into the back seat and Cricket got in behind her closing the door. There was a man Betty didn't recognize sitting in the driver seat.

"Let's go," Cricket said.

The man shifted the car into gear and pulled away from the curb.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on? And who are these other people?" Betty asked.

"You know I was working with the FBI right?" Cricket asked.

"So these are FBI agents?" Betty asked.

That got a laugh from the Selina and the man in the front.

"No, quite the opposite," Cricket said. "This is Selina Kyle and Leonard Snart, they're both professional thieves."

"Hold on what?" Betty asked confused.

"Look it's not what you think," Cricket said. "After my cover got blown in Vegas the FBI decided to hand me over to an off the books government organization. We're called the Rogues."

"And what exactly do you do?" Betty asked.

"We steal things for the government," Selina replied. "For me stealing isn't about taking things so I can have them. I can get by fine without having to steal. No for me it's the thrill."

"Speak for yourself, for me it's about doing what I'm good at and not having to be in prison," Snart commented, his natural speaking tone a bit monotonous and yet droll.

"And what about you Cricket?" Betty asked.

"Well stealing was never really my thing," Cricket admitted. "But stealing money I'm definitely good at. Plus I owe the government for keeping me safe from the Lodge's."

"But you just said that this involves Hiram Lodge," Betty said. "Doesn't that seem a little… counter intuitive?"

"I volunteered for this," Cricket said. "I want to strike back at them. They held me prisoner for years."

Betty nodded understanding. However there was still a great deal she didn't know like what exactly they were doing and why they needed her, which seemed to be a topic that Cricket was dancing around.

"Cricket, unless you want me to kick that door off and jump out of this car I suggest you tell me just what exactly we're doing," Betty demanded. "And just why you need me."

"We're breaking into the Lodge Corp local offices," Cricket replied. "The thing is these are no ordinary offices, they've got tighter security than the Pentagon."

"There's an easy way in, the problem is that it's on the roof and there's no way to get there without being detected," Selina said. "But Cricket says you can help with that."

"So you just want me to get you guys onto the roof of a building?" Betty asked.

"It's a fifteen story building in the middle of nowhere," Snart replied.

Betty shrugged.

"Not a problem," she said. "When are we doing this?"

"Tonight," Cricket replied. "It would help if you could get us back down too. The roof's also the easiest exit."

"You gonna tell me what you're stealing?" Betty asked.

"Money, documents, maybe if there's something pretty I like," Selina said with a smirk.

Betty still felt uneasy about all of this. She wasn't entirely sure if Cricket was even telling the truth, if this was all just some elaborate hoax to trick her into helping. The idea of government sanctioned thieves seemed a little farfetched.

"So why did you have to pick me up now?" Betty asked.

"We need to case the place first," Snart answered. "Get the lay of the land if you will."

"And you need me why?" Betty asked.

"We need you to go check out the roof," Cricket replied. "Check for security cameras and the like."

Just then Snart brought the vehicle to a stop. Betty looked out to see they were parked beside the Lodge Corp. Riverdale Industrial Complex. The area was surrounded by a ten foot high chain link fence, there were about a half dozen warehouses and the Lodge Corp. Riverdale HQ, a fifteen story office building with the Lodge Corp. logo emblazoned on the side for about four stories.

Betty sighed and opened the door.

"Where are you going?" Cricket asked.

"You want me to check out the roof, I'm going to check out the roof," Betty responded.

"Well you might want this," Cricket said holding out the costume that Betty had left on the seat. "Your friend was right; you might want to protect your identity."

Betty took the costume with a bit of a frown on her face. From the front of the car Selina and Snart both laughed.

"Oh now that is something else," Selina commented.

"Not sure how that's going to help you sweetheart," Snart said.

Betty ignored them and walked over to the fence. In a single leap she hopped up and over it to the other side. In the car Selina and Snart were surprised.

"That girl's got some hops," Selina commented.

"She's got more than that," Cricket said.

"What else can she do?" Snart asked.

"You'll find out," Cricket replied with a coy smile.

* * *

Betty quickly made her way towards one of the warehouses. There was an empty dumpster outside of it and she jumped inside and changed into the costume. As much as she didn't care for the costume she had to admit it made did do something to hide her identity. She undid her hair from its usual ponytail and fluffed it a bit before letting it fall past her shoulders. The last thing she did was put on the mask.

She decided to leave her things in the dumpster which didn't seem like it was being used anyway, and it would be a good place to get changed back. She then peaked out to see if anybody was watching and when she was sure she was clear she sped to the building. As soon as she reached it she leapt straight up into the air. Unfortunately she had slightly misaimed she started to come down she realized she was about two or three feet short of the ledge. Desperately she reached out and grabbed a hold with one hand. Her fingers dug into the concrete right up to the second knuckle as she caught herself. A few bits of concrete fell to the ground below. Betty glanced down to make sure that they hadn't hit anybody before quickly pulling herself up onto the roof.

"I am definitely going to have to practice that before trying to do it with a person on my back," Betty muttered to herself.

She glanced about the roof taking it in. There wasn't much to see on the roof: a few H/VAC units, what was probably the hot water tank and an access door. Betty noticed that there was a camera above the door, but fortunately it was looking down at the door.

Betty took a slow walk around the roof looking for anything else but there wasn't anything worth noting. She then walked to the edge of the roof and was about to jump down when she noticed that there were people dumping things into the dumpster where she'd left her clothes.

"No! No! No!" Betty exclaimed.

The dumpster was nearly completely full of garbage already. As Betty watched in horror a truck came along and the contents of the dumpster were emptied and taken away.

Frustrated Betty walked to the far side of the roof. She took a look up at the sky in frustration and stood with her hands on her hips for a moment. She then turned and took a few running steps and leapt off of the roof. She completely cleared the entire complex and came to a landing just a few feet away from the vehicle where Cricket, Selina and Snart were waiting. Angrily Betty climbed back into the car.

"How… what the?" Selina stammered.

"Where's your clothes?" Cricket asked.

"Don't ask," Betty replied.

"I think perhaps we should be asking her what she found," Snart said.

"There's just some ventilation units, the hot water and the roof access door," Betty said. "There's a camera looking down at the door but that's it."

"The camera can be dealt with easily enough," Snart said.

"Yes but it might be easier to get where we need through the air vents," Selina said.

"We can get that figured out after we case the place," Cricket said.

"Look this is all well and good," Betty said. "But I don't see why I need to be here."

"Go home," Cricket said. "We'll come get you when we're ready."

Betty nodded and got back out of the car. She then took off for home.

"Where did you find this girl?" Selina asked Cricket.

"She's the reason I'm free from Lodge's," Cricket said. "And don't get any ideas Selina. Betty's a girl you don't want to cross."

"What, what am I going to do?" Selina said. "But it would make jobs so much easier if she worked with us."

"That's true, but not everyone is all about the score," Snart said. "Cricket's friend seems reluctant even to help us."

"She's only helping us because she's got beef with the Lodge's," Cricket said. "But she's a good person so let's try not to pressure her into doing anything she doesn't want to."

"Fair enough," Stark agreed.

"Whatever," Selina said with a shrug.

Cricket sat back in her seat and looked over at the office building. She hoped that tonight Betty didn't get put into a tough position because of Snart or Selina. But Cricket wasn't sure; she'd only known the two of them for a couple weeks. She was going to have to take their word.

* * *

 _Cricket seems truthful to Betty, but what about Selina and Snart? Can they be trusted. Find out. Please Review._


	41. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39**

* * *

Betty arrived at her home and entered the side door of the farm house. Her mother was in the kitchen getting things ready for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Betty could see the TV was on in the living room tuned into CNN which was talking about some legal battle going on between Lodge Corp and Wayne Enterprises.

"Betty, what are you doing back here?" Alice asked looking up from the turkey she was working on. "And why are you wearing that?"

"It's a long story mom," Betty mumbled as she made her way to the cupboards and got out a glass.

"We've got time," Alice responded.

"Do you remember back on my birthday that incident with the girl at the amusement park, Cricket?" Betty asked as she set the glass on the counter and went over to the fridge.

"Oh, she was the one that had been held in that medical facility by the Lodge's?" Alice asked.

"That's the one," Betty replied as she got a pitcher of lemonade from the fridge and poured herself a glass. "Anyway she showed up on my way to school today asking for my help."

"Help with what?" Alice inquired.

Betty downed the entire glass at once before answering.

"She was here with these two other people to steal something from the Lodge's," Betty said. "She had been working with the FBI, but she says she now works with this off the books group whose job is to steal things for the government."

"And what does that have to do with you being here in your Halloween costume?" Alice asked.

"Well they wanted me to help them scout the place, specifically to check out the roof of the office building over at the Lodge Industrial Complex," Betty explained. "I got changed into this to protect my identity, as silly as that seems. I hid my clothes in an empty dumpster while I went up onto the roof. Well while I was up there the dumpster was quickly filled and emptied taking my clothes with it."

Alice couldn't help but chuckle at her daughter's misfortune.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Alice apologized. "How about you go get changed first."

Betty put her dirty glass in the sink and then went upstairs to get changed. She then came back down.

"So, what are you going to do?" Alice asked.

"Well I don't know if I can go to school, I told Sheila and Jughead to cover for me," Betty replied.

"That's not what I meant," Alice said. "I was referring to this heist. Obviously you've got some reservations about this."

"I don't doubt that the Lodges have things that they probably shouldn't," Betty said. "I mean Belle Reeve shouldn't exist as far as I'm concerned. But I just… there's something not right about this."

"What doesn't seem right?" Alice asked.

"Well Cricket seems genuine in this," Betty said. "And she definitely holds a grudge against the Lodges for what they did to her. But her colleagues, they just don't strike me as the most trustworthy people."

"But you trust Cricket?" Alice inquired.

Betty considered for a moment before nodding.

"I do," Betty replied.

"Then you should trust that she trusts these people," Alice said.

Betty was a little surprised at her mother's advice.

"You realize that you're asking me to go along with a robbery right? To help commit a crime?" Betty asked.

"I realize that," Alice said as she set about stuffing the turkey. "But I also know that you are anything but ordinary Betty, and because of that you're going to find yourself in circumstances such as this. I have to trust that your father and I raised you well enough to know what the right thing to do is. The fact that you even considered going along in the first place tells me that you believe there is definitely merit behind this robbery. And if you think there is, then I trust that you are making the right decision."

Betty smiled and nodded.

"So if you're not going back to school you can help me prepare Thanksgiving dinner," Alice said.

"Alright what do you need me to do?" Betty asked.

"Well how about you get the dough ready for the pies," Alice suggested. "You're going to need…"

* * *

It was late in the evening and Betty was sitting out on the porch just looking out towards the road. It was late in November so it was fairly cool, but the cold had never really bothered Betty much. Even when she was younger she felt perfectly comfortable going outside in the winter in shorts and a t-shirt; but her parents quickly taught her that doing so would attract the kind of attention she didn't want. However out here on the farm Betty didn't have to worry about that so she was sitting out on the porch in jeans and a t-shirt. She'd told Jughead and Sheila what had happened earlier and they had both backed Betty's decision to help Cricket and her friends.

Just then Betty spotted a somewhat familiar black SUV driving along the road slowly. Betty picked up her jacket and put it on as she began walking down the driveway. The SUV turned into the driveway and Betty met up with it part way down the driveway.

She walked around to the passenger side and climbed in. Once again Snart was driving with Selina beside him in the front while Cricket was in the back. All three of them were dressed all in black.

"That's what you wear to a robbery?" Selina asked.

"I'm not the one breaking in," Betty reminded her. "I'm just your human elevator."

"And just out of curiosity how are you able to do that?" Snart asked.

"Does it really matter?" Betty asked.

"If you don't want to tell me that's fine," Snart said.

It was awkward silence until they arrived once more at the Lodge Corp Industrial Complex. Snart parked the vehicle at a safe distance and they got out and made their way to the fence. Betty was prepared to help the other over but Selina scaled the fence almost as fast as Betty could have jumped it. Betty was amazed at her agility. Selina dropped down on the other side and gave Betty a wink.

Snart then pulled out what looked like a gun and pointed it at the fence. He fired it at the fence and it let out a stream of blue energy. Everywhere that it touched the fence, the fence froze. Snart then kicked the frozen parts of the fence leaving behind a hole big enough for them to walk through.

"What is that thing?" Betty asked Snart.

"Cold gun," Snart replied. "I stole the plans for it years ago and now I can build one from pieces you can find in an electronics store."

Inwardly Betty was admittedly somewhat impressed but she wasn't about to let Snart know it.

Cautiously they made their way across the lot to the office. Several times they had to stop and hide because of security patrols. Betty was definitely curious about why there were so many security guards around; perhaps they had forewarning of this robbery.

It took about twenty minutes, but eventually they were able to reach the office building.

"Alright Betty, do your thing," Cricket said.

"Who's first?" Betty asked.

Selina stepped forward.

"Hang on tight," Betty said.

Selina grabbed a hold of Betty, and Betty wrapped an arm around Selina's waist. She then coiled her legs and sprang up into the air and seconds later the two of them were standing on the roof. Betty let go of Selina and then dropped back down to the ground, landing somewhat roughly.

Snart was next and Betty repeated the process. She dropped down again to get Cricket.

"I didn't tell them, but I'm not a big fan of heights," Cricket told Betty.

"We'll be up there before you know it," Betty said.

Cricket nodded and Betty grabbed a hold of her. Cricket closed her eyes and then Betty jumped up onto the roof.

"You can open your eyes," Betty whispered.

Cricket looked around and was relieved to see she was on the roof. Snart and Selina were already at work on the door. Selina had disabled the security camera while Snart had opened the lock.

"You just wait up here," Cricket said to Betty as she went to join the others.

Betty nodded and stood by the door as the others went inside. She wondered just how long she would be waiting.

* * *

It was almost twenty minutes later when Betty heard an alarm go off from inside the building. Betty looked around worriedly wondering just what had happened. Moments later Snart, Selina and Cricket emerged from the door onto the roof.

"Quick get us out of here!" Snart exclaimed.

Betty grabbed Selina and leapt off the roof. She dropped Selina and jumped back off and took Snart down before returning for Cricket. The four of them then quickly ran across the yard to the fence before slipping back out. They all piled into the car and drove off.

"Whew that was close," Cricket said.

"What happened in there?" Betty asked.

"Cricket got spotted," Selina replied.

"We're going to need to find somewhere to lay low for at least the next twenty-four hours," Snart said.

Betty had a pit in her stomach, but she knew she had to make the offer.

"You guys can hide out at my place," Betty said. "We've only got one spare room, but there's the couch or the barn…"

"Sounds good," Snart said as he stepped on the accelerator.

A few moments later they were pulling down the driveway. As Snart brought the vehicle to a stop Betty saw her mother coming out of the house. Betty got out and ran over to her.

"Is everything okay?" Alice asked worriedly.

"It's fine," Betty replied. "But they need somewhere to hide for a little while."

Alice looked at the three criminals a little apprehensively.

"How long?" Alice asked.

"A day or two," Betty answered.

"So they'd be here for Thanksgiving?" Alice inquired.

"Is that a problem?" Betty responded worriedly.

"No, that's great." Alice said. "I've made far more food than I need to."

"Alright, well let me introduce you," Betty said. "This is Leonard Snart, Selina Kyle and Cricket O'Dell…"

* * *

Thanksgiving the next day was definitely one of the strangest for the Cooper family. Chic wasn't joining them, instead there were three criminals.

Betty had spent the day getting to know Selina. Selina's mother had died when she was young and she'd grown up with her father who was a petty criminal until he'd ended up imprisoned and Selina had ended up in the foster system. From there she'd bounced around before ending up in one group home where the woman taught the children to steal. That was where Selina had developed her kleptomania. From there she'd progressed to bigger and more dangerous jobs, until eventually she'd been caught by the vigilante in Gotham known as Batman.

While she had been in prison she had been approached with offer to have her sentence commuted in return for working with the Rogues.

Trying to get anything out Snart on the other hand was like trying to squeeze blood from a rock, it was impossible. About the only thing that Betty was able to learn was that he was a Chicago Bears fan as he cheered for the Bears as they played the Lions. He and Betty's father, who was a Giants fan, had talked football for much of the afternoon.

Cricket had spent much of the day talking with Polly. The two of them were only a grade apart and it turned out that they knew a lot of the same people and Polly happily caught Cricket up on what was going on with them.

As they sat down to the meal Betty looked around the table. It wasn't quite the same without Chic, but after getting to know the other Betty was thankful that they were there to join them for the meal, and after all isn't that what Thanksgiving is about?

A dark haired teenage boy got off the train at Riverdale. He walked over to the ticket counter.

"Excuse me, could you tell me where the nearest hotel is?" he asked.

"There's a motel just a block away," the attendant replied.

"Thanks," he said.

The boy made his out of the station and down the block to the motel. He walked up to the office.

"Can I get room?" he asked the receptionist who was busy texting on her phone.

"Aren't you a little young?" she asked.

The boy looked like he was only sixteen or seventeen.

"I can pay," he said not answering her question.

"Alright fine, what's the name?" she asked.

"Tim, Tim Drake," he replied.

* * *

 _Surprise introduction there at the end. Are we heading towards some sort of version of the Teen Titans? A Justice League Riverdale? Or does Mr. Drake have other motives? We shall see. Please review!_


	42. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40**

* * *

It was Black Friday. Alice and Polly had gotten up early to head to the mall in Greendale to do their shopping as that mall was bigger than Riverdale's. Betty didn't want to deal with the crowds though and besides they still had their "guests".

Betty made her way out to the barn to find Snart. He had parked in the barn just in case anyone came along looking for it. Snart had decided to sleep out in the barn rather than in the house, he seemed to have a strange affinity for cold.

"Hey Snart," Betty called out as she entered the barn. "You hungry?"

"No I'm fine," Snart replied.

Betty looked to see that he was up in the loft. He had probably slept on one of the couches up there. Betty made her way up to join him. Snart was sitting on the one couch looking at the coffee table. Betty saw that Barry's costume was laid out on the table.

"Um, what are you doing?" Betty asked.

"Just wondering who in their right mind would wear something like this," Snart replied.

Betty nodded in agreement, she thought the whole outfit looked a little tacky. Especially the little lightning bolts by the ears. Of course it hid Barry's identity better than her costume did.

"Of course it makes me wonder if you aren't the only one around here with powers," Snart said.

"Well no, I mean Cricket has powers too," Betty said.

"I wasn't referring to Cricket," Snart corrected her.

Betty wasn't sure how to respond to that. Fortunately she was interrupted by Selina entering the barn.

"Leonard, Cricket just got a call on our rendezvous point," Selina said. "We need to leave in about an hour to make it on time."

"I'm ready when you ladies are," Snart replied.

"Well Cricket wanted to talk to you," Selina said.

Snart gave a sigh and walked down the stairs from the loft and out the barn. Selina then made her way up to the loft where Betty still was.

"Thanks again for letting us stay the night," Selina said.

"No problem, it's been pretty fun honestly," Betty replied.

"What's this?" Selina asked pointing at Barry's costume.

"A friend's delusions of grandeur," Betty replied. "He wants to be a vigilante like Batman."

"Well he's going about it wrong," Selina said. "I've actually met Batman and honestly it's an intimidating encounter. This is not intimidating."

"I'll let him know," Betty said. "So where are you guys off to next?"

"We're going to meet up with our government contact some woman named Waller, and drop of the items we… repossessed. And then we'll probably be given another mission," Selina replied.

"Sounds like a bit of a lonely life," Betty commented.

"Well we've got each other," Selina said. "And when you're doing something you enjoy it doesn't seem that lonely."

"I guess that's true," Betty agreed.

"I've been meaning to ask where did you get your powers from?" Selina asked. "Cricket said she couldn't say."

"I was born with them," Betty replied.

It wasn't a lie, it was true. Betty was just omitting the part where she wasn't born on this planet. Selina stared at Betty for a long moment, clearly trying to determine whether Betty was lying or not.

"Well alright," Selina said with a shrug suddenly. "To be honest what you can do is kind of frightening, I'm just glad that someone like you has your powers and not somebody like Snart."

"Snart doesn't seem like that bad a guy," Betty said.

"He's not the worst," Selina said. "But there would be a lot of destroyed banks and museums… the world would be a more dangerous place."

"And what about yourself?" Betty asked.

"I probably wouldn't be much better," Selina admitted.

"Well it's all speculation," Betty said. "There's really no way to actually no."

"That's true," Selina agreed. "Well I should go help Leonard and Cricket get ready to go. We've got a pretty tight deadline."

Selina made her way back down the stairs and out of the barn. Betty stayed up in the loft watching her leave. She then turned around and looked at Barry's costume before picking it up and folding it and putting in into a wooden chest.

* * *

Tim Drake was in his motel room. He was eating some takeout while he did some research on his laptop and the TV played the news in the background.

"…And in other news there was a break-in at the Lodge Corp facility in Riverdale last night," the reporter said. "The company said about $500,000 in cash was stolen. There are three suspected thieves."

Tim looked up and turned up the volume intrigued.

"Apparently the thieves made their escape via the roof, police are unsure as to how they managed to get off the roof," the reporter said. "However they did release this footage of the suspects."

The shot cut to some low quality security footage. The three thieves were dressed all in black as they broke into a door. One of them had what looked like some sort of futuristic laser gun from a sci-fi movie and he appeared to the only male. The other two suspects looked to be female. As Tim watched one of the women move about on the screen he almost instantly recognized her.

"Just what exactly were you after Selina?" Tim muttered to himself. "I know it wasn't the cash."

Tim turned the volume back down and focused back on his laptop he had work to do.

* * *

Thanksgiving weekend had come to an end and school had resumed. At lunch Betty was sitting in the cafeteria with her friends all around the table as she told them about her adventures with Cricket, Selina and Snart.

"And you let them join you for Thanksgiving dinner?" Jughead asked incredulously.

"Yeah…" Betty answered slowly unsure why Jughead was so upset.

"I can't believe it," Jughead muttered putting his head in his hands.

"Can't believe what?" Betty asked.

"Now there's going to be less of your mother's famous leftovers!" Jughead exclaimed.

Betty just sighed and laughed.

"Don't worry Jughead, mom set aside some leftovers just for you," Betty said.

"Aren't you going to be moving back into your house here in town soon," Sheila asked. "It's looking pretty complete."

"Yeah, Polly and my mom were actually purchasing new furniture on Black Friday, amongst other things," Betty said. "So that will be delivered during the week. My mom is actually going to be there during the day to receive the deliveries."

Just then they heard a murmur amongst the students in the cafeteria and everyone looked up to see their Principal, Mr. Weatherbee, enter the cafeteria with an unfamiliar student. He was a boy of average hard with short dark almost black hair.

"Who's that?" Barry asked.

"No idea," Sheila replied.

Everyone else shrugged, they didn't know. Mr. Weatherbee and the student made their way through the cafeteria.

"I think he's coming to our table," Jughead whispered.

All of them looked nervously as Mr. Weatherbee came to a stop beside their table.

"Hello all of you," Weatherbee said. "I'd like to introduce you all to Timothy Drake, he just moved here from Gotham City."

"Actually it's just Tim," Tim corrected Weatherbee.

"Anyway Dilton I would like you to show Timothy here around the school," Weatherbee said.

"Me?" Dilton asked his voice cracking.

Weatherbee gave him a withering glare.

"Is there a problem with that Mr. Doiley?" Weatherbee asked.

"Uh, no sir," Dilton replied.

"Good," Weatherbee said before walking away.

There was a bit of an awkward pause as they watched him leave and then they all looked up at Tim not sure what to say.

"Why don't you join us?" Sheila asked indicating the empty chair beside Tim.

Tim shrugged and sat down.

"So what brings you from Gotham to tiny little Riverdale?" Barry asked.

"I'm hoping to get an internship with Lodge Corp," Tim replied. "They don't have much of a presence in Gotham since Gotham is a Wayne Enterprise city."

"Why Lodge Corp?" Betty asked.

"I don't understand the question," Tim replied.

"Why Lodge Corp, why not get an internship with Wayne Enterprises?" Betty inquired.

Tim was caught off guard by the question, he hadn't been expecting it.

"I… uh…" he stammered. "Their focus… it's more what I'm interested in."

"What exactly do you want an internship doing?" Dilton asked.

"Well I'd like to be a lab assistant," Tim said. "I'm looking to be a chemist."

"Oh I love chemistry," Dilton said. "I'm more of a computer science guy myself but chemistry could lead to the development of better microprocessors. I mean if we could develop a way to synthetically create certain rare metals we could have even better computers than we already have."

"That's quite true," Tim agreed.

"Why don't I show you the chemistry lab here," Dilton said. "I've got an experiment I've been working on."

"Alright," Tim agreed.

The two of them got up and left the cafeteria leaving Betty and the others a little confused.

"What the heck was that?" Sheila asked.

"I'd say it's a budding nerd-mance," Jughead replied.

"Or maybe bro-mance, or bro-nerd-mance?" Barry suggested.

"There's something a little weird about that kid," Betty commented.

"Yeah he's too good looking to be a nerd like Dilton," Sheila agreed.

"That's not at all what I meant," Betty said. "I feel like he's hiding something. Like he's got an ulterior motive for wanting to work at Lodge Corp."

"Who cares," Jughead said. "He's just a kid like us."

Betty nodded, but couldn't shake the feeling that there was something different about Tim.

* * *

Hiram Lodge made his way through the woods to the cave. As he made his way deeper into the cave it was illuminated by the green glow of the meteor rocks inside. He went all the way in until he reached the cocoon that held Midge. It had grown larger since he had last been here.

"It won't be much longer now," Hiram said softly as he rubbed a hand on the cocoon.

He then reached into a wooden box that he had brought with him and pulled out an ornate dagger. The pommel of the dagger was decorated with a large demonic head and the blade was made of some strange dark metal that was almost pitch black. Hiram then pulled out a small bowl made of the same black metal as the blade of the dagger and set them both on the ground.

The last thing in the box was a large piece of white chalk. Hiram took the chalk out and proceeded to draw a series of symbols on the floors and wall of the cave. Some of the symbols were pentagrams, others looked like tridents and others resembled various hieroglyphics.

Hiram then picked up the dagger and began chanting something under his breath as he stood facing a particularly large meteor rock. He then touched the tip of the dagger to the rock and the blade began glowing the same green as the rock. Slowly the glow of the rock began to fade until only the dagger was glowing.

Hiram then walked back over to the small bowl and knelt down in front of it. He began muttering something else under his breath and then he cut his palm and slowly let the blood trickle down into the bowl until it was full. He then turned his hand up and all of a sudden the bleeding stopped.

Hiram then picked up the bowl with both hand and held it up while looking down at the ground and chanting something else. The blood in bowl began to glow a greenish colour. Hiram then stood up and dipped his fingers into the bowl and began drawing the same symbols he had drawn on the walls and floor of the cage onto Midge's cocoon with the blood.

The symbols glowed and with each symbol that Hiram drew they each glowed even brighter until they were almost blinding. Then all at once they symbols vanished and Hiram was left standing in the cave with the now empty bowl.

"Yes it won't be too much longer now," Hiram said with a small smile.

* * *

 _A lot of things happening in this chapter. Hiram is up to something but what? And just what is Tim Drake doing in Riverdale and why does he want to work for Lodge Corp? And is the last we shall see of the Rogues? (No, they'll turn up again). Please review._


	43. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41**

* * *

Winter had come to Riverdale just in time for Christmas. The town was covered in about half a foot of snow and Christmas decorations adorned almost every street.

The Coopers had finally moved back into their rebuilt home back at the start of December. It was configured almost exactly as before, however Alice now had a much nicer kitchen to cook in and the upstairs bathroom had been redone very nicely as well.

Betty was heading to Pop's, she and her friends were doing a Secret Santa gift exchange and they decided to meet up at their favourite diner to do it. They'd each drawn names out of hat and Betty had ended up with Jughead. He had been quite easy to buy for given his love of food and Betty had cookbook that contained 101 Gourmet Burgers.

When she entered the restaurant she was greeted by Maria.

"Hey Betty, most of your friends are already here," Maria said. "I'll take your present and bring them out with your food order."

Betty nodded and handed Maria the gift and then made her way over to the booth where her friend were while Maria took the present into the back. Betty saw that Jughead, Dilton and Barry were there already they were just waiting on Sheila.

"Hey guys," Betty greeted her friends.

"Hey Betty," they all returned.

Jughead slid over to give Betty room to sit down.

"I hope you don't mind but I invited Tim to join us," Dilton said.

Betty shrugged but said nothing. She didn't really mind but she did find Tim Drake to be a little odd. He was incredibly secretive and had that weird fixation on wanting to work at Lodge Corp. She'd also followed him home one day and had noticed that he was living at a motel. She hadn't brought this up with her friends, particularly Dilton as Dilton had become good friends with Tim.

A few minutes later Sheila arrived accompanied by Tim.

"Hey guys," Sheila said. "I bumped into Tim outside and he said he was here to join us."

"That's right," Dilton said.

They all sat down and chatted.

"I hope you don't mind Tim but we're doing a gift exchange, we drew names just before Thanksgiving," Barry said.

"No that's fine," Tim said.

Soon Maria came over and took their orders and they chatted while they waited for their food. Maria then came out with another waitress bringing their food as well as the gifts. Everyone looked eagerly at their gift and then around the table, each of them wondering who had gotten their name.

Betty picked up her gift which was a small cube shaped box wrapped in green shiny wrapping paper and gave it a shake. There wasn't any noise when she shook it.

Next to her Jughead eagerly tore into his present and looked at it excitedly.

"One Hundred and One Gourmet Burgers," he read the title. "Man these make the burger I ordered look sad in comparison."

Next to him Dilton had opened his present which was a rather nice black leather wallet. Beside him Barry was opening his gift which was the second largest one at the table. It was a red fake leather jacket with the logo of his costume on it twice, a small logo on the front above the heart and a large logo on the back.

"Did you make this Sheila?" Barry asked.

Sheila grinned and nodded.

"It is so awesome, I love it!" Barry exclaimed.

"Really?" Tim asked. "Seems a little tacky to me."

Everyone else looked at each other. They all knew that Barry was incredibly proud of his secret superhero identity, but Tim didn't know about it.

"Red is my favourite colour," Barry said.

"And the lightning bolt?" Time asked.

"Because I got struck by lightning when I was younger and survived," Barry explained.

"Hmm," was all Tim said.

Betty finally opened her present and saw that it was a ring case. She looked around the table trying to figure out who had bought it for her, but couldn't tell. She then opened it up to see it was a ring with a blue gemstone.

"Is this…?" Betty started to ask.

"…A real sapphire? No," Barry answered. "It's a synthetic sapphire."

Betty had initially thought that it was from Dilton and was a little surprised that it was from Barry.

"I felt I should replace the ring I wrecked at Halloween," Barry explained.

No mention was made about the fact that the ring almost got Betty killed, and that they had needed to destroy the ring to save her life.

Sheila was the last one to open her gift. Her gift was the largest of them all and quite heavy.

"Oh my god! It's a Kenmore Limited Edition 17 Stitch Sewing Machine!" Sheila exclaimed excitedly.

"Can I put in an order for some pants to match my jacket?" Barry asked half-jokingly.

Everybody laughed. They then began eating their food before it got cold and tried to figure out who got who what. It had been obvious that Sheila had gotten Barry the jacket, and Barry had said he got Betty the ring. Dilton had given Sheila the sewing machine and Jughead had given Dilton the wallet, and of course Betty had given Jughead the burger cookbook.

"Oh that reminds me," Betty said while they were eating. "I got a postcard from Cheryl."

"Really?" Sheila asked a little surprised.

"Yes, uh she says hi and apparently she's in Greece right now," Betty said.

There was a bit more written on the card but she didn't want to read it in front of Tim.

"Who's Cheryl?" Tim asked.

"She's a classmate of ours," Dilton explained. "Betty was dating her brother Jason who was killed in the restaurant massacre."

"So why is she in Greece?" Tim inquired.

"I don't know," Betty replied. "She didn't say why in the letter."

Betty wasn't lying about that, Cheryl hadn't actually even said where she was. Betty only knew that she was in Greece because that was where the postcard had been postmarked from.

"You know I never thought I'd say this, but I hope she comes back I actually miss having her around," Jughead commented.

"How about a toast?" Barry suggested. "To Cheryl, and other friends that aren't here."

They all raised their glasses.

* * *

Betty returned home wearing her new ring. As she stepped in the door she could smell her mother baking gingerbread in the kitchen which was her older brother Chic's favourite, especially gingerbread houses. Alice made some of the most elaborate gingerbread houses every year for Christmas.

"Hey mom!" Betty called out. "Do you need a hand with the gingerbread house?"

"Nope I've got it cover little sis," Chic said.

"Oh my god Chic!" Betty exclaimed not realizing her brother had arrived home.

She ran over and hugged her older brother literally picking him up off the ground. He looked different from when Betty had last seen him. He'd gotten his shaggy hair cut into a standard military buzz cut and it looked like he'd been exercising quite a bit, which was to be expected.

"Ow, ow, not so tight!" Chic grunted.

"Sorry, sorry," Betty apologized as she put her brother down.

"So I hear you've been busy since I've been gone," Chic commented. "Saving the town and all."

"Maybe a little," Betty said.

"How about you tell me about it," Chic said. "And we can decorate the gingerbread house together."

He and Betty sat at the kitchen table and together they decorated the gingerbread house while Betty told Jason about how she first defeated Ambrose, how she had fallen in love with Jason and how he had been killed by Midge, and how she and Barry had managed to save the town from the team of Midge and Ambrose.

"You know I have to say I'm a little jealous," Chic said when Betty had finished her story.

"What? Why?" Betty asked a little surprised.

"Well I joined the military to protect people from all sorts of threats and here you are protecting the town all on your own," Chic replied.

"Oh I'm not all on my own," Betty said. "I mean Barry helped a lot and the others have helped me out too."

"Still none of it would even be possible without you," Chic said. "I know I picked on you quite a bit when we were younger, but I just want you to know I'm proud of you."

"Thanks Chic," Betty said.

"But you need to be careful too," Chic said. "Trust me you don't want the military coming after you."

Betty frowned thinking that was an odd thing to say.

"Well I'm going to go up to my room for a bit to take a nap, I could not sleep on the plane," Chic said. "Let me know if you need anything Mom."

"I think I'll be alright," Alice said. "Have a nice nap."

Chic made his way upstairs. He was staying in Betty's room while Betty was again sharing a room with Polly. When Chic entered his room he was surprised to see Polly in there sitting on his bed.

"What are you doing in here?" Chic asked.

"You know something," Polly stated.

"What, what are you talking about?" Chic asked confused.

"Your comment down there, about not wanting the military to go after Betty, you know something," Polly said. "What is it?"

"Polly I…" Chic started.

"Nobody knows you better than me," Polly cut him off. "I know when you're lying and I also know when you're hiding something. And you're hiding something here Chic. So tell me."

Chic looked around and then closed the door.

"Alright fine," he said speaking quietly. "The military know about Betty."

"What?" Polly exclaimed.

"Shh," Chic hushed her. "Not about Betty specifically, they know that during the meteor shower an alien spaceship landed. They had tracked it on their radar."

"But they gave no warning about the meteor shower?" Polly asked.

"The meteors didn't show up on their radar," Chic replied. "I don't know why exactly. But what I do know is that there's more to the story of Hiram Lodge getting the clean-up contract."

"What do you mean?" Polly inquired curiously.

"The military wanted the space ship," Chic replied. "The deal they made with Hiram was that he could have all the meteorites to do with as he wanted as long as they got the space ship. The logic behind giving him the only contract was that it would make it more likely he would turn the ship over. But we both know that they never got it."

"Yeah it's buried like twenty feet deep out on the farm," Polly commented.

"Good, good," Chic said. "But the recent event here have the military interested once again."

"How do you know any of this?" Polly asked. "You're just a recruit out at the Air Force Academy."

"I was," Chic said. "I actually got recruited into a covert pan-military organization called the ETA."

"ETA? What does that stand for?" Polly asked.

"Extra Terrestrial Agency," Chic replied. "The idea is to protect Earth from aliens. It's headed up by General Sam Lane."

"Sam Lane… wait isn't he the father of that writer for the Daily Planet, Lois Lane?" Polly asked, "The youngest Pulitzer Prize winner ever?"

"Yep, and he's frankly disappointed in her," Chic said. "He wanted her to join the military like him."

"That's awful," Polly commented. "But why were you recruited?"

"Well I may have used some of the things Betty told me about Ambrose to make it seem like I could tell the difference between an alien and a human that's been altered by alien rocks," Chic admitted.

"I can't believe you Chic," Polly muttered.

"Look I didn't think it would lead to a search for Betty," Chic said. "And so far it hasn't. But if she keeps things up it's only going to raise suspicion."

Polly sighed, "You're right."

"But you can't tell anyone about this, not Mom, not Dad and certainly not Betty."

"Then why are you telling me?" Polly asked.

"Because I can't tell Betty to stop," Chic said. "She won't listen to me like she would you. I can't say we've ever gotten along well."

"That's largely your own doing," Polly chastised him.

"I know, I know," Chic admitted. "Just… can you please do this? It's not for me it's for Betty."

"I'll talk to her," Polly said. "But to be perfectly honest a lot of the saves around here are actually her friend Barry. He takes the whole superhero thing a little more serious."

"I saw her costume," Chic said.

"Her friend Sheila made it," Polly responded.

"Whatever," Chic said in frustration as he threw his hands up in the air. "Could you please talk to her and could you please leave my room so I can take a nap?"

"Fine," Polly agreed. "But you owe me one Chic."

"Whatever, just get out," Chic said angrily.

Polly left the room closing the door behind her. She could hear Betty and her mother downstairs talking. Polly decided that she would talk to Betty later, it wasn't that urgent.

* * *

That night Betty and Polly were getting ready for bed.

"Betty I need to talk to you about something," Polly said.

"Sure, what is it?" Betty asked as she changed her shirt.

"It's about you and the hero things you and Barry have been doing," Polly said.

"What about it?" Betty inquired.

"I think you need to stop," Polly stated.

"Why? We're helping people," Betty said. "I stopped that drunk driver the other day, he could have killed someone."

"Yeah that's true," Polly admitted. "But you're going to raise attention where you don't want it."

"If you're talking about the Lodges I can handle them," Betty said.

"I'm not talking about the Lodges, I'm talking about people far more powerful," Polly said. "Like the military."

"The military? Chic said something earlier… about not wanting the military coming after me," Betty commented.

"Well he's right," Polly said. "If they could they would make you into a weapon they could aim at whatever enemy they want. And there's not much on this planet that can stop you Betty; that makes you incredibly dangerous."

"How do you know any of this?" Betty asked.

"Look I talked with Chic when I picked him up at the train station, he was just telling me about the military and the things they do," Polly said. "It's not hard to figure out what they would want to do with you."

Betty sat on the edge of her bed her jaw clenched.

"Nobody will ever use me as a weapon," Betty said.

"I hope not," Polly responded.

* * *

Veronica Lodge was attending a Christmas party at a hotel in Los Angeles. It was being put on by a retailer that sold her fashion line. Even though Veronica didn't have much to do with her fashion line these days she was still the face of it and attending events like this helped the company's profile.

Veronica was standing off to the side just watching. She was close to the bar in case she wanted another drink.

"Champagne?" somebody beside her offered.

Veronica turned to see a rather dapper looking man wearing an Armani Tuxedo. He looked to be in his late twenties to early thirties with light brown hair and similar coloured eyes.

"Thank you," Veronica said taking the champagne flute from him. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

"I would think so," he replied. "We were in the same xenobiology doctorate class."

Veronica looked at him trying to place the face. She hadn't associated with any of her classmates so she couldn't.

"Sorry I was far more focused on getting my doctorate than making friends," Veronica said.

"Understandable," the man responded. "I'm Maxwell Lord the Third, of Lord Enterprises; although you can call me Max."

Veronica's eyebrows arched in recognition.

"You recently had your father declared mentally incompetent and took over the company," Veronica said. "My congratulations."

"Thank you," Max said. "And I understand you've been having some issues with your own father."

"Everyone has issues with my father," Veronica responded.

"Well perhaps the two of us could work together for a mutual benefit?" Max suggested.

"What did you have in mind?" Veronica asked intrigued.

Max looked around the party hall.

"This probably isn't the place to be discussing such things," Max said. "Prying ears and all."

He reached into his pocket and handed her a hotel room key card.

"Why don't you come up to my room once you're done here and we can… discuss things further," Max said.

With that he downed the rest of his own champagne and swiftly exited the party hall. Veronica watched him leave and then glanced down at the key card with a smile. This might be just the Christmas gift that she needed.

* * *

 _Just a bit of a catch up as we move forward in time. An explanation as to how Hiram got that monopoly on the meteor rocks, and we also see Chic for the first time in the present. But there's also the intriguing relationship between Veronica and Max Lord, what's going to become of that? A lot of questions need a lot of answering. Please Review!_


	44. Chapter 42

**Chapter 42**

* * *

 _The first part of this chapter contains some moderately graphic material. But I don't want to change the rating to M for on chapter, just be aware._

* * *

"Oh god this is amazing," Veronica moaned.

She had left her own party early and gone up to Maxwell Lord's room, which happened to be the hotel's Presidential Suite. The two of them had started talking and having a few drinks but soon those talks moved to the bedroom.

"So, uh, my hope is to have these, grr, nanobots ready, guh, in six months," Max said as he fucked Veronica on the bed.

Currently he standing just at the end of the bed with Veronica's legs draped over his shoulders, while Veronica was lying back and looking at a design plan for his nanobots.

"Simply amazing," Veronica said.

"The nanobots or the sex?" Max asked.

"Both," Veronica responded with a smirk as she put the plan down on the bed and looked up at him.

When they had first started talking Max had been explain to Veronica on how he had been working on nanobots that when injected into a person would allow them to control nearby electronics with but a thought. Veronica was quite intrigued with the concept to say the least, and Max had felt that her expertise with the biological side and his expertise with electronics they could both make a fortune off this idea.

Max picked up the pace banging Veronica harder, her balls smacking against her ass with a sweaty smack with each thrust. Veronica let out a high pitched yelp each time Max drove his well-hung dick into her.

"Oh yes! Oh yes!" Veronica cried out. "Oh I'm coming!"

"Me too!" Max exclaimed.

Both of them orgasmed simultaneously, Max grunted as he came forcefully inside of her while Veronica let out a loud long wail. As they both came down Max flopped onto the bed beside Veronica as they both panted from the exertion.

"That was good," Veronica commented.

"Not great?" Max asked.

"I think I'd need a second go to determine that," Veronica replied.

"Well how about we move this little party to Las Vegas?" Max suggested. "My private jet can get us there in no time."

"Why what's in Las Vegas?" Veronica asked.

"Hotel rooms nicer than this, Lord Industries main laboratory, and 24 hours chapels," Max replied with a smirk.

Veronica rolled over onto her side to look at him.

"Why Mr. Lord is this a proposal?" she asked with an arched eyebrow.

"It seems the best way to cement our partnership here," Max replied.

"If I didn't know better I'd think you were trying to get an in with my father's company," Veronica said.

"I know your father, you he'll make sure I can't touch his company," Max said. "But it's my understanding that the two of you aren't exactly seeing eye to eye right now and this could be a… fun way to get him back."

Veronica considered for a moment. Coming into tonight she certainly hadn't expected for even the business proposal yet alone the marriage proposal. Frankly things the last couple months had been rather tedious, with her father pretty much kicking her out of his company all she had was her fashion line. The West twins were still in comas and if they were anything like the Allen boy they would remain that way for another few months at least, he had been in a coma for nearly seven months.

"I have one condition," Veronica said finally.

"What's that?" Max asked.

"No Elvis wedding," Veronica replied with a smile.

* * *

It was Christmas Eve and Betty had slept in. She didn't have school or anything else to do. She walked past Chic's room to see that he was already up but when she went downstairs she didn't see him anywhere. He mother was in the kitchen cooking as she almost always was while Polly was in the living room idly watching TV.

"Good morning Betty, do you want me to make you breakfast?" Alice asked.

"No I'll just have some cereal," Betty replied.

Betty had poured some cereal and was getting the milk from the fridge when she heard Polly call her from the living room.

"Betty come quick," Polly called.

Betty ran into the living room and looked at the TV.

"…the two were seen going into the Cupid's Wedding Chapel last night around three a.m. local time," a reporter said. "Apparently the two had met earlier that night at an event being put on by Veronica Lodge's fashion line."

"What's this about?" Betty asked.

"Apparently Veronica Lodge got married last night to Maxwell Lord," Polly replied.

"Maxwell Lord? Isn't he the guy who got his father committed?" Betty inquired.

"Yep, and he got the company making him one of the richest men in the world," Polly answered. "And he's super good looking too. Man some people have it all."

"Well good for her," Betty said. "And I guess she's stopped worrying about me."

"I guess there is some small bright spot," Polly agreed.

"Oh come on Polly, I'm pretty sure that Maxwell Lord married her because of who her father is," Betty said. "He probably wouldn't have much interest in you."

"Hey!" Polly exclaimed.

"I'm just saying," Betty replied as she went back into the kitchen to get her cereal.

She poured the milk into her cereal and then went back into the living room and sat down on the couch beside Polly.

"… Lord Industries stock actually gained this morning on the news that he had married Lodge Corp heiress Veronica Lodge," the reporter said.

"I wonder what her father thinks about this?" Polly pondered.

Betty shrugged not really caring, "He's probably unhappy about. But it seems he's unhappy about a lot of things."

"That must suck having a father like that," Polly commented.

"Yeah maybe," Betty said. "Say have you seen Chic?"

"He went out early to meet up with some of his old friends," Polly replied.

Betty nodded as she ate her cereal.

The two sisters sat watching TV for a while as Betty ate. When Betty was finished she took her dishes to the kitchen and then went upstairs to get changed. She texted Barry asking if they could meet up to talk. Barry responded saying that he had some last minute Christmas shopping to do so Betty could meet him at the Wal-Mart in an hour.

* * *

Betty was standing outside the store waiting for Barry.

"Hey what's up?" Barry asked from behind.

Betty spun around a little startled.

"Man, don't sneak up on me like that!" Betty exclaimed.

"Why? Not like I can hurt you," Barry replied.

"No but you startle me enough and I might just hurt you," Betty retorted.

"Okay, sorry," Barry apologized. "So what's up? What did you need to talk about?"

"Apparently our heroics have been attracting attention," Betty said. "And not the kind we want."

"What do you mean?" Barry asked.

"The military, my brother subtly mentioned that we've been attracting their attention," Betty said, "And not in the good way. I think we should… put our heroics on hold, at least temporarily."

Barry stared at her for a long moment. He then looked down at her hand and saw that she was wearing the ring he had gotten her the other day.

"That ring looks good on you," Barry said before turning to walk away.

"Barry wait," Betty said grabbing his shoulder.

"What Betty, why should I give this up?" Barry asked.

"Because we could both be in danger," Betty replied.

"I doubt that," Barry said. "But you probably are. So if you want to stop you can, but I won't."

"That's not fair Barry," Betty said.

"No, what's not fair is having these powers and not being able to help people with them," Barry said.

Betty took the ring off and gave it back to Barry.

"Take the ring back," Betty said. "What I want is for you to give up being a hero for a little while, for me."

Barry looked at the ring in his hand for a long moment.

"Why is this so important for you?" Barry asked.

"The military is interested in using you or I as a weapon," Betty replied. "Frankly the thought of that frightens me and I just think we should lay low for a little while."

"Alright," Barry agreed. "But just for a month or two."

"Thank you," Betty said.

"And take this back," Barry said handing Betty the ring back. "It was a Christmas gift and we're still friends."

Betty took the ring back and slid it back onto her finger.

"Thanks," Betty said. "I'll see you later."

Barry nodded and went into the store while Betty started making her way home. She decided to take a meandering walk home through the town to look at all the Christmas decorations.

Betty had just gone past the train station where a Christmas train had pulled in and was walking past the motel she'd seen Tim staying at when she saw him getting onto a motorcycle.

"What the heck…" Betty muttered.

She watched as Tim put his helmet on and slowly pull out of the motel parking lot before driving away. Betty was rather curious about what he was up to and decided to follow. She carefully followed him in spurts of speed doing her best to make sure he didn't notice her. Eventually Tim stopped at a quarry just outside of town. The quarry was closed for the winter so nobody was around. Betty herself stopped partway down the road and watched.

Tim got off his motorcycle and took his helmet off and just stood there, it looked as if he was waiting for somebody. Betty slowly crept closer to try and get a better view.

Suddenly she heard something behind her and she turned around only have a pair of electrified escrima sticks jabbed into her sides. Betty let out a startled cry as she felt the electricity course through her but she didn't go down. She quickly smacked the two weapons out of the hands of her attacker and shook her head getting a look at him finally.

He was tall and had dark hair and he had a startled expression on his face over the fact that Betty was still standing. He made a move to try and attack Betty but she grabbed his arm and gave him a hip toss to the ground and then grabbed his throat with one hand pinning him to the ground easily as she held her fist up ready to attack.

"Who are you?" Betty demanded.

The man said nothing but just struggled to try and get Betty's hand off of his throat. She then looked up to see Tim running over.

"Betty? What are you doing? Let him go!" Tim yelled.

"You know him?" Betty asked.

"Yes let him up," Tim replied.

Betty stood up slowly letting the man get to his feet.

"Who is this girl?" the man asked Tim.

"Dick this is Betty Cooper," Tim introduced. "Betty this is Dick Grayson."

Dick looked down at his escrima sticks which had been broken by Betty.

"How did you do this?" Dick asked picking them up. "Did you know about this Tim?"

"No," Tim replied. "Betty what are you even doing here?"

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Betty replied.

Tim stood for a moment clearly mulling things over in his head.

"If I tell you, then you need to tell me how you were able to follow me," Tim stated.

Now it was Betty's turn to consider. It looked like her secret was already out as it was, she figured there was no harm in telling him.

"Okay," Betty said. "I've got… abilities. I'm faster, stronger and a lot more durable than a normal person."

"I noticed," Dick commented his hand rubbing his throat.

"Sorry about that," Betty apologized.

"Well I did shock you with over a million volts first," Dick said. "So I guess it's a little understandable."

"So what exactly are you to doing meeting out here?" Betty asked.

Tim looked at Dick who shrugged.

"I'm here to try and infiltrate Lodge Corp to discover what Hiram Lodge is up to," Tim said.

"Why? And for who?" Betty asked.

Tim glanced at Dick once more.

"Batman," Tim replied.

"Wait what?" Betty asked surprised.

"Batman," Tim repeated.

"Isn't he up in Gotham? Why does he care about what Hiram Lodge is doing down here?" Betty asked.

"He's concerned that Hiram's up to something that would have implications on perhaps the entire country or even the whole world," Dick replied.

"So what is your relation to Batman, and who is he?" Betty inquired curiously.

"I can't tell you who he is," Tim answered. "But both Dick and I have fought crime alongside him as Robin."

"That is so cool," Betty said.

"Look you can't tell anyone this," Tim said. "My mission here is secret, it's bad enough you know."

"You can trust me to keep a secret," Betty said. "We've each got leverage on each other. I know your secret and you know mine."

"Fair enough," Tim agreed.

"And just so you know I'm with you on the belief that Hiram Lodge is up to something," Betty said. "And if you need help I'm your girl. I've helped some other people with Lodge Corp in the past."

"Oh did you help Selina back around Thanksgiving?" Tim commented.

"You know Selina Kyle?" Betty asked in surprise.

"We've both had a few run-ins with her in the past," Dick said.

"What was she after?" Tim asked.

"I'm not sure," Betty replied. "She was working with some government black-ops group called the Rogues."

"The Rogues…" Dick muttered. "I've heard that in something before, I'll look into it when I go back to Gotham."

"Well here's what I've found Dick," Tim said handing Dick a thumb drive. "Have a safe trip back."

"Thanks," Dick said pocketing the thumb drive. "I'll see you in a few weeks when I come for the next update."

Dick then turned and walked to his car which he'd parked down the road.

"Do you want me to give you a ride back?" Tim offered Betty.

Betty considered for a moment, she'd never ridden on a motorcycle before.

"Yeah sure," Betty agreed.

"I, uh don't have a helmet for you," Tim said.

"I don't need it," Betty said. "If a bullet can't pierce my head I don't think a fall at 100 miles per hour would do much."

The two got onto the motorcycle and Tim started it up, the engine roaring to life. Betty felt the sensation of the bike vibrating beneath her was unlike any she'd experienced.

"Hang on," Tim called back over his shoulder.

He revved the engine a few times before skidding the bike in a tight one hundred eighty degree turn and then racing away from the quarry and back to town.

* * *

 _So this is now my longest story by both words and chapters, just a little personal achievement of mine. Anyway some interesting things happening here with Veronica marrying Maxwell Lord and Tim and Betty learning each others secrets. What else is going to happen? Please review!_


	45. Chapter 43

**Chapter 43**

* * *

It was the first day of spring break and Betty and her friends were hanging out in the barn out on the farm, except for Dilton who had gone skiing in Vermont with his parents. The four of them were sitting around playing Monopoly.

"Is this what we're going to do all week?" Barry asked as he rolled the dice.

"You're just sore because you're losing," Sheila responded.

"No I'm not," Barry said as he moved his piece and landed on community chest and picked up a card and read it. "Get out of jail free."

"Barry makes a decent point," Jughead said as he picked up the dice for his turn. "We've got a whole week ahead of us, we should do something."

"Like what?" Betty asked.

"I don't know," Jughead said as he rolled the dice.

"There's a charity magic show at Pickens Park this afternoon," Sheila said. "We could go watch that."

"That could be fun," Barry agreed.

"As long as there are no clowns," Jughead said.

"You're no coulrophobic," Betty said.

"Color what?" Jughead asked confused.

"Coulrophobic, it's a person who is afraid of clowns," Betty replied.

"No, but I have this overwhelming urge to punch one," Jughead said.

"Well if there is a clown there I'll just hold you back," Betty said.

* * *

Veronica was in the laboratory that she shared with her husband Maxwell Lord at Lord Industries. The two of them had been working together on Max's nanobot technology for the past couple of months. Veronica's father had not been happy upon learning about her marriage to Maxwell Lord and had pretty much severed all ties with her and cut her out of the Lodge Family fortune, although he hadn't gone so far as to write her out of his will.

Veronica didn't really care though. She was more focused on the work she and Max were working on. They were making excellent progress and Veronica enjoyed working with Max. She found that with him she was able to get more accomplished than she had either on her own or with anyone else.

Just then the door to her laboratory opened. Veronica glanced up to see Max entering.

"Hello dear," Max said. "How are things going."

"Quite well," Veronica said as she looked back down into her microscope. "The nanobots are just about ready for a test."

Max stepped up behind Veronica and rubbed her shoulders.

"That's excellent news," Max said.

"I've been meaning to ask," Veronica said as Max gave her a shoulder massage. "What exactly do you intend to do with your nanobot technology."

"It's not what I intend to do with them," Max replied. "It's what we intend to do with them. So what would you like to do?"

"I'd like to take my smug father down a peg or two," Veronica said.

"Well we can certainly do that," Max replied. "But in the meantime…"

Veronica felt something rubbing against her back. She glanced back to see that Max was naked underneath his lab coat. Veronica smirked because she was as well. For some reason having sex in the laboratory seemed to improve their scientific work so it was a common occurrence.

"If we keep this up," Veronica said as she slowly jerked Max off. "We might solve string theory."

"Well, wouldn't that be something," Max replied.

He quickly cleared off a nearby table and as the couple began yet another session of laboratory love-making.

* * *

Betty and her friends arrived at the park. There was already a crowd of about two hundred people gathered to watch the magic show. They each paid the five dollars for the ticket to watch the show.

"I think you're good Jughead, I don't see any clowns," Barry joked.

"Who's the magician we're seeing?" Sheila asked.

"Um… the Sorceress Sabrina Spellman," Jughead replied looking at a program. "Oh it says here she's the daughter of Zatara."

"Zatara?" Betty asked.

"Yeah he's the guy that made the Washington Monument disappear," Jughead said. "But then he disappeared like a year after that. Nobody knows where he is."

"Oh yeah I remember reading about that," Sheila commented. "That was like before we were born though."

"Yeah, wasn't his daughter like two years old or something?" Barry asked.

"I think four or five," Jughead said. "But not very old."

They took their seats at the parks outdoor theatre. Since they had come last minute they had to sit near the back, but the crowd was mostly made up of younger children so they could still see alright.

The show began with loud music. Everyone looked around wondering where Sabrina was and suddenly there was a puff of smoke and she appeared in the middle of the center aisle. She had platinum blonde hair and was wearing a white top hat, white jacket with white bikini type bottoms and a black corset. The outfit seemed a little revealing for a kids show.

"Whoa how did she do that?" Barry whispered to Betty.

Betty shrugged. She had no idea; she hadn't sensed Sabrina at all before she suddenly appeared.

Throughout the rest of the show both Betty and Barry were watching Sabrina closely. She performed the usual tricks like pulling a rabbit out of her hat, a floating card trick, a making various handkerchiefs appear.

They then watched as she set a card on fire burning it to ash. She then held the ash in one hand so everyone could see that it had been destroyed.

"Nurt kcab otni a drac," Sabrina chanted.

What happened next occurred so quickly that most people wouldn't have been able to tell what had happened. But Betty and Barry were both able to see what happened. The ash rose up and formed the shape of a card and then it seemed to un-burn and become the card once more. To everyone else it looked as if the card had just appeared.

"Holy crap!" Jughead exclaimed.

"Holy crap is right," Barry agreed. "She actually reformed the card out of the ash."

"That's not possible," Sheila said.

"After everything we've seen you should know that anything is possible," Betty commented.

Sabrina moved onto her next trick which involved choosing a volunteer from the audience. She picked a young girl sitting near the front and the proceeded to make her levitate, however beyond that she made the girl float all the way over the audience and back.

"Do you think maybe she has actual magic?" Barry asked.

Jughead and Sheila both got into a discussion about it, but Betty was distracted by her cell phone buzzing. She pulled it out and was a little surprised to see a message from Tim.

 _Big trouble need your help_ , it read.

 _What kind of trouble?_ Betty sent back.

 _Demonic bees_ , Tim responded. _They're heading for the center of town_.

Almost as if on cue there was a buzzing noise. Betty looked up and her eyes went wide as she saw what looked like a greenish-black cloud approaching. However as it got closer she realized that it wasn't a cloud but rather a swarm of massive wasp or bee like creatures; they were about the size of a kitten with huge massive stingers.

"Get everyone out of here," Betty said to Jughead and Sheila. "Barry and I will try to deal with this."

"Run for cover, run for cover!" Jughead and Sheila yelled.

The audience all saw the swarm of large insects coming in and began running. Betty and Barry both stood staring at the approaching swarm.

"What the heck is it?" Barry asked.

"I don't know," Betty replied.

"How are we going to stop it?" Barry asked.

"I don't know," Betty replied.

"Llaberif!" they both heard Sabrina shout.

Suddenly a large ball of fire shot towards the swarm of insects. They watched as several dropped to the ground dead and burning but the swarm kept coming.

"You guys need to get out of here," Sabrina said running over to them.

"No we're going to help stop this," Barry said.

"Are you two bee keepers or something?" Sabrina asked a little insultingly. "Because…"

She was cut off as Betty unleashed a blast of her heat vision incinerating a few more of the wasp creatures.

"You were saying?" Betty inquired.

"Let's just deal with this," Sabrina said feeling a little embarrassed.

Sabrina continued to launch fireballs at the swarm of insects and Betty used her heat vision. Barry meanwhile spun his arms quickly create a pair of small vortexes that sucked a bunch of the insects in which made it easier for Sabrina and Betty to destroy them. However the insects kept coming.

"How many of these things are there?" Barry exclaimed. "They seem endless!"

"Tnaig llaberif!" Sabrina exclaimed.

With both hands she launched and absolutely massive fireball that completely engulfed the swarm incinerating them all. When the flames cleared there seemed to be nothing left. All three of the sighed with relief that the danger was over.

"What the hell were those things?" Barry asked.

"I don't know," Betty answered. "Tim gave me a head's up."

"Tim?" Barry asked confused.

Betty hadn't told Barry about Tim's secret or what he was doing in Riverdale.

"Yeah, he's here in town investigating Hiram," Betty replied.

"Wait so do you think those bugs were altered with meteor rocks or something?" Barry asked.

"Those weren't simply insects," Sabrina said. "They were demons."

"Wait, what, demons?" Betty asked confused.

Before Sabrina could reply a motorcycle came racing towards them. Betty immediately recognized the rider as Tim. He skidded to a stop and hopped off.

"You stopped the swarm?" Tim asked rather surprised.

"Yeah, with the help of Barry and Sabrina here," Betty replied.

Tim looked at Sabrina and Barry confused as to how they could have helped.

"Sabrina here has magic," Betty explained. "And Barry is the fastest man alive."

"Well we're not out of the woods yet," Tim said. "There's more trouble, apparently at the grocery store."

"No, before we go anywhere you need to explain what's going on," Barry said.

"I don't know exactly what's going on," Tim said. "I was following Hiram Lodge and he went for what looked like a hike in the woods. I went to follow him and then next thing I know there's this swarm of giant wasps or bees flying out of this cave heading towards town."

"Those weren't wasps," Sabrina said for a second time.

"Well then what were they?" Tim asked rather frustrated.

"They were Advespas," Sabrina replied. "Well immature ones it seemed like."

"What's an Advespa?" Betty asked.

"They're a very common demon in hell," Sabrina replied. "They're typically used as shock troops in demonic wars. But these ones… they seem different."

"Different how?" Tim asked.

"The green, usually they're all black," Sabrina replied.

"Do you think maybe Hiram is combined demons and meteor rocks?" Barry suggested.

"If he is god knows what these things can do," Tim replied.

"They're stings inject a poison that normally causes its victim to go insane, usually to the point of committing suicide," Sabrina told them.

"So we need to stop them," Betty said. "But how did they get here?"

"Well they're immature," Sabrina replied. "So it looks like they just hatched within the past day or two. That makes me think there's an Advespa Queen, maybe in that cave you mentioned."

"Then that's where we should go," Tim said.

"But what about the grocery store?" Betty asked.

"Oh yeah…"

* * *

Brigitte Reilly was starving. She had been out for a walk near the woods as part of her attempt to lose weight when a swarm of giant bees had flown by. Brigitte had ducked for cover but one of them had stung her. Despite the pain however the wound seemed to heal very quickly but it had left Brigitte starving. She was close to a grocery store so she'd made her way there looking for something to eat.

As soon as she walked in she found herself in the produce section. She immediately made her way over to a display of apples and picked one up and began eating it. She then ate another and then another. She kept going eating more and more.

Soon the apples were all gone and Brigitte moved to a large pile of onions eating them whole. Customers were quite disturbed and a manager soon came over to speak with Brigitte.

"Excuse me miss," he said as he put a hand on Brigitte's shoulder. "But I'm going to have to ask you to…"

He didn't finish as Brigitte turned around. The man stopped midsentence as he saw her face. Her eyes looked sunk and had turned black and her skin was so pale that it was almost white. But perhaps most disturbing was that her mouth had transformed into a huge gaping maw filled with multiple rows of razor sharp teeth.

Brigitte let out a threatening hiss before she grabbed his hand and bit down on it biting it clean off. The manager screamed as he held the bleeding stump as Brigitte resumed eating the onions.

Customers in the store screamed and ran away in panic wondering what they had just witnessed and who could possibly stop it.

* * *

 _Demonic wasps are attacking Riverdale? Was this Hiram's plan for Midge or is it just the tip of the iceberg so to speak? Lots of interesting things in this chapter including the introduction of Sabrina and an obscure Dungeons and Dragons reference (D &D 3E MM 2 pg 68). It looks like things are about to come to a head in Riverdale. Please review._


	46. Chapter 44

**Chapter 44**

* * *

"We should split up," Barry suggested. "Betty and I can deal with the cave, Tim and Sabrina can handle the grocery store."

"If there's an Advespa queen, or god forbid something worse; it won't be nearly as easy to defeat as that swarm was," Sabrina said. "We should stick together."

"I have to agree with Sabrina," Betty said. "She's the only one that knows anything about demons."

"I have to agree as well," Tim said. "Having a tactical knowledge of your opponents is crucial to winning a battle."

"Alright, well then Betty and I will meet you there," Barry said.

"No we should all arrive together," Sabrina said. "I can get us there all at once."

"You can?" Barry asked in surprise.

Sabrina gave him a slightly condescending glance.

"Let's gather around Tim's bike," Sabrina said.

They gathered in a circle around Tim's motorcycle.

"Okay now we need to all hold hands," Sabrina said.

Somewhat slowly they each held hands. Betty was standing across from Sabrina so she took Tim and Barry's hands.

"Tropelet su lla ot eht yrecorg erots," Sabrina said.

Suddenly they were all enveloped in gray smoke and then seconds later they were in the grocery store parking lot.

"Whoa, that was trippy," Barry commented.

"Was that how you suddenly appeared at the start of your magic show?" Betty asked.

Sabrina nodded but before she could say anything they heard screams coming from the grocery store and saw people fleeing. Barry quickly took off for the store with Betty behind him.

Tim grabbed a short pole from off of his bike. He pressed a button and it suddenly elongated into a metal quarterstaff.

"Let's go," he said to Sabrina.

The two of them then made their way to the grocery store.

Barry and Betty stopped immediately inside the grocery store. There was a man lying on the ground clutching a bloody stump where his left hand used to be, moaning softly.

"We need to help him," Barry said kneeling down.

Betty knelt down as well although she wasn't sure what they could do. There was a big pool of blood around the man and the wound seemed to be oozing black puss, it was quite disgusting. Just then Tim and Sabrina arrived.

"Sabrina can you help him?" Betty asked.

"I don't know," Sabrina said. "That wound it looks…"

Suddenly the man began convulsing violently. Foam began pouring from the corners of his mouth.

"He's seizing!" Barry exclaimed.

Barry and Betty tried to hold the man still. All of a sudden the seizing stopped and he lay still. Betty placed her head to his chest.

"He's not breath and his heart has stopped," Betty said.

"Stand back I'll do CPR," Barry said.

"Don't bother," Sabrina said putting a hand on Barry's shoulder in a comforting fashion.

Barry stood up and wiped his face. Betty wasn't sure but it looked like Barry might have been crying.

"What did this to him?" Tim asked.

As if to answer the question there came a scream from in the store. They quickly made their way into the store and were shocked by what they saw. Standing in the middle of the cereal aisle was a large overweight woman her skin almost a greyish colour. She currently had her back to them and was pulling box after box of cereal off of the shelves and tearing them open and pouring them into her mouth. Betty noticed there was a large red welt on her right shoulder. At the far end of the aisle was a middle aged woman who was just staring at the one eating in horror.

"What the heck?" Barry muttered.

"This… it's a gluttony demon," Sabrina said. "Or one that's possessed a person."

"Wait possessed?" Tim asked. "Like in the Exorcist?"

"Something similar to that," Sabrina replied.

Just then the possessed woman turned showing a huge gaping mouth filled with teeth. Both Betty and Barry gasped.

"Brigitte?" Betty asked recognizing her.

The possessed Brigitte just let out a his before grabbing another box of cereal and biting into it, tearing the box in half with her razor teeth before swallowing it whole. However she didn't seem to be a danger to people, she seemed more concerned with eating.

"That's disgusting," Barry commented.

"Gluttony demons aren't particularly dangerous unless you interrupt their eating," Sabrina said. "That's probably what happened to the man we passed at the entrance."

"Can you save her?" Betty asked Sabrina. "Perform an exorcism or something?"

Sabrina thought for a moment.

"I can drive the demon out, banish it back to hell," Sabrina said. "But it will not go willingly. And the moment I start casting the spell the demon will try to attack me."

"That's alright we can hold it off," Barry said.

"No you don't understand," Sabrina said. "Any damage you do to the demon will also happen to Brigitte. If you hurt her too much when the demon leaves her she might die immediately."

"Okay… that makes things a little more difficult," Betty admitted. "But not impossible. We've got to at least try, that's the least we can do."

Sabrina looked at Barry and Tim who both nodded in agreement.

"Alright, we need a plan though," Tim said. "Barry you need to get that other woman out of the store. Betty you do your best to restrain the demon and I'll stay with Sabrina as a last line of defense and in case of any other surprises."

"Oh one more thing," Sabrina said. "I need you to keep her within the range of my voice. If the demon can't hear the spell it stops working and I'll have to start over."

"Great, another twist to make this more difficult," Barry muttered.

"Hey I'm the one that that's going to be doing the heavy work," Betty said.

"Knock it off you two and let's go," Tim said. "Barry get that woman and anybody else out of here, now!"

Barry was a little shocked by Tim's authoritative tone. However he took off a split second later to get the woman out and check the rest of the store.

"Get ready," Sabrina said to Betty. "The demon is going to be pissed."

Betty nodded and glanced back at the possessed Brigitte who was now opening cans of soup with her teeth and downing the contents in a single gulp.

"Nemod evael siht lessev!" Sabrina said. "Nemod evael siht lessev!"

Brigitte turned around faced Sabrina she then let out a shrill ear piercing screech before charging at them. Betty quickly intercepted her and grabbed Brigitte in full nelson holding tight. Brigitte began yelling something in an extremely deep and demonic sounding voice, however Betty didn't understand it.

"What is she saying?" Betty asked.

Sabrina didn't answer but just kept working on the exorcism spell. Betty continued to hold Brigitte who struggled and tried to free herself. Betty was surprised at how strong the demon was. Betty could feel her grip breaking.

Suddenly Brigitte let out a deep growl and that turned into a roar suddenly spines shot out from her back. Betty was forced to let go as she felt them pierce her skin. Betty looked down to see that she was bleeding. The wounds were quickly healing but somehow the demon had wounded her.

"Betty…" Tim called out nervously.

She looked up to see Tim swinging his staff at the demon. He hit her twice in the side of the head which seemed to have absolutely no effect. The spine were still sticking out of her back, which reminded Betty of a skeleton of a Dimetrodon that Betty had seen at the museum when she had been younger.

The demon smacked Tim's staff out of his hand with ease and was about to bite into him when Betty ran over and tackled it to the ground. She struggled to hold the possessed Brigitte down.

"Thanks," Tim said as he scrambled to pick up his staff once more.

Betty just grunted as she strained to keep Brigitte pinned to the ground. Suddenly Brigitte gave Betty a hard shove to the chest and Betty flew up into the air smashed through the ceiling and landed on the roof.

Betty had to take a moment to catch her breath, the wind being knocked out of her. She then looked down through the hole to see that Barry had returned and had intercepted Brigitte and carried her to the back of the store. Betty dropped down through the hole landing beside Barry.

"I got this," Barry said to her confidently.

As Brigitte charged towards Sabrina once more Barry ran to intercept. However as he neared her Brigitte lashed out and suddenly Barry was tumbling head over heels from being hit with a vicious clothesline. He came crashing to stop knocking over a row of shelves and cans of vegetables falling on him.

Betty wasn't certain but it looked like Barry was alive just knocked out. He ran over to try and grab Brigitte once more but Brigitte hit her with a powerful punch. Betty flew all the way across the store smashing through row after row of shelves until she came to a stop against a wall of freezers.

Betty quickly got to her feet angrily and charged back across the store. She tackled Brigitte around the ankles just as she was about to attack Tim slamming her to the ground rather hard.

"Not today," Betty growled.

With a violent twist Betty broke both of Brigitte's ankles, however the demon didn't seem at all bothered or in any pain. Instead it just lashed out striking Betty yet again sending her flying across the store once more. However when the possessed Brigitte tried to get to her feet, she immediately collapsed in a heap. Frustrated the demon began crawling towards Sabrina as it hurled demonic insults at her.

Across the store Betty once more got up. She wasn't in any pain but she could feel her stamina waning. She ran across the store once more but she realized she wasn't quite as fast as usual. She stepped down on the ankles of the demon holding it in place. The demon lashed out at her but Betty was able to easily dodge.

"Nemod og kcab ot lleh!" Sabrina shouted finishing the exorcism.

All of a sudden black smoke began billowing out of Brigitte's mouth. It swirled around in the air above her like a growing hurricane before it plunged down into the ground and disappeared. Brigitte let out a gasp and then fell to the ground unconscious. The spines on her back were gone and her mouth seemed to have gone back to normal.

"What happened?" Tim asked.

"The demon was sent back to hell," Sabrina said.

Betty quickly checked on Brigitte. Other than her broken ankles she seemed to be fine, at least physically.

"Will she be alright?" Betty asked.

"She'll be fine," Sabrina said. "I'll take care of her go check on Barry."

Betty went over to check on Barry who had ended up near the entrance to the store. Barry was slowly coming to as she got over to him. Betty knelt down and gave a chuckle.

"Did it work?" Barry asked groggily.

"It worked," Betty replied with a smirk.

"That's good," Barry said with a sigh as he stared up at the ceiling. "Betty why is the store spinning."

"It's not, you just got knocked loopy," Betty replied. "But I think you'll be alright."

Barry looked over at her.

"Yeah, my vision is a little messed up," he said. "I mean it looks as if that dead guy just got up and is about to…"

He never finished the sentence. The next thing Betty knew she was smashing through the glass doors of the entrance and then crashing into a parked car.

Betty struggled to her feet holding her head and wondering just what had hit her. She looked up to see the man who had died at the entrance making his way towards her. His eyes were black and he had a sadistic grin on his face. But the most frightening thing was that where his severed hand had been was now an absolutely massive black claw that was covered in ooze.

"Not another demon," Betty muttered to herself.

She went towards it but found that her strength had dropped and she stumbled. She looked up to see the newly risen demon was about to attack her when suddenly it vanished from her view.

"Looks like you could use a hand," a familiar voice said from above.

Betty looked up to see what looked like a person floating in the air. She couldn't quite make them out because the sun was directly behind them casting them in shadows. But as the person slowly lowered to the ground Betty suddenly saw that it was Cheryl Blossom. She was clad in a sparkly red body suit and had on some golden coloured bracers on her arms.

"Cheryl? You're back?" Betty asked in surprise.

"And just in time it would seem," Cheryl replied.

"Where were you? How did you…?" Betty stammered.

"That's a long story," Cheryl answered. "I think we've got bigger problems we should deal with first."

* * *

 _The story of how Cheryl gained her new powers can be found in my story Cheryl Blossom - Wonder Girl, please check it out._

 _So with Cheryl it looks like Riverdale has it's own little Justice League? Will they be able to stop whatever is going on here? Or will whatever they face be too much for them? Find out in the next chapter. Please Review._


	47. Chapter 45

**Chapter 45**

* * *

Cheryl gracefully came to a landing next to Betty and held out her hand to help Betty up. Betty grabbed Cheryl's hand and was surprised when Cheryl pulled her to her feet almost effortlessly.

"Whoa, you're a lot stronger now," Betty commented.

Cheryl grinned and nodded, "Yep, maybe as strong as you."

"Well we're going to need that," Betty said.

* * *

 _A/N: For the story on how Cheryl gained her powers please read my story Cheryl Blossom - Wonder Girl_

* * *

Betty then glanced over the store where she saw Tim and Sabrina helping Barry to his feet. Betty made her way back to the store followed by Cheryl.

"Betty what happened?" Barry asked. "Was that another… whoa, Cheryl?"

Barry stared at Cheryl dumbfounded his mouth slightly agape.

"Nice to see you again Barry," Cheryl said with a grin as she stood with her fists resting against her hip.

"Who's this?" Tim asked.

"This is Cheryl Blossom," Betty introduced. "She's a class mate from school, but she took a leave of absence after her brother's death…"

"There's something mystical about you," Sabrina interrupted as she approached Cheryl.

Sabrina looked Cheryl up and down getting rather close. She even bent down and sniffed at Cheryl's leg.

"Whoa, whoa, back off sister," Cheryl said as she grabbed Sabrina by her jacket and easily moved her back.

"Sorry," Sabrina apologized.

Cheryl let go and stood with her arms crossed in front of her chest.

"Is that the Silent Armor?" Sabrina asked.

Cheryl gave Sabrina a look of surprise.

"How do you know about it?" Cheryl asked.

"Oh I know about just about everything magical, mystical and mythical," Sabrina replied a little indifferently as she continued to look Cheryl up and down. "So what was your test like, how did you prove capable of acting with wisdom and compassion?"

"How… how do you know about that?" Cheryl stammered.

"Like I said, I know just about everything magical, mystical and mythical," Sabrina replied with shrug.

"While this is all quite interesting, I think we're all forgetting that we've got a bit of a demon problem," Tim interjected. "So how about we deal with that and we can talk about Cherry…"

"Cheryl," Cheryl corrected him.

"Cheryl's magical armor or whatever afterwards," Tim finished.

"That's probably a good idea," Betty agreed.

"Yeah," Cheryl said with a nod.

"Alright," Sabrina agreed.

Betty glanced down at Barry.

"Barry? Hello?" she said waving her hand in his face.

Barry was still staring at Cheryl, his mouth hanging open.

"Barry. Barry! BARRY!" Betty began yelling at him.

Barry didn't respond and just continued to stare. Tim stepped up and with an open palm slapped Barry across the face.

"Ow!" Barry exclaimed. "What the hell man!?"

"I know I look like, super hot," Cheryl said to Barry. "But there's other things you need to focus on right now beside my breasts."

Just then there was the sound of sirens approaching.

"Uh-oh," Barry muttered. "We should probably leave."

"No," Tim disagreed. "We need to let the authorities know what is going on, and what they can do to help."

"Well I don't want them to know who I am," Betty said.

"Me neither," Barry agreed.

"That's a good point," Tim also agreed.

"I can help with that," Sabrina said.

She motioned for Betty, Barry and Tim to all face her and she raised her arms up in the air.

"dlac meht ni rieht oreh semutsoc," Sabrina chanted.

The three of them soon found themselves clad in their hero costumes. Barry was excited to be in his costume for the first time in a while, and Betty admittedly felt kind of good about wearing hers as well; although she still disliked the mask. They then looked at Tim and were excited to see that he was indeed Robin.

"Oh my god you really are Robin," Barry said excitedly.

"I told you I was," Tim said.

"Yeah but I had my doubts," Barry said.

"Really, this is what you wear?" Cheryl asked looking at both Betty and Barry.

"Sheila designed it…" Betty mumbled feeling a little embarrassed.

"Hey I like mine, it's great," Barry said.

"Eh, yours is fine, maybe a dark shade of red would be better," Cheryl said dismissively to Barry. "But Betty that mask doesn't suit you, and your outfit is cute, but it's missing something, like maybe a logo like Barry's."

"The fashion talk can wait girls," Tim said. "Cops are here."

Just then a pair of police cars skidded to a stop in the parking lot and four police officers quickly got out heading towards the store their weapons at the ready. Tim went out to meet them, and Betty and the others followed close behind. Betty was keeping a careful eye out in case one of the officers had an itchy trigger finger.

"Officers, we've taken care of the situation here," Tim said as he raised his hands.

The officers looked around. They saw the dead body of the man who had been killed and rose from the dead as a demon. It was quite obvious that they were quite unnerved by it.

"You, you're coming in for questioning," one of the officers said nervously. "How do we know you didn't cause this?"

"Right, because we'd turn somebody into a demon to attack us, because that makes so much sense," Tim said sarcastically.

"I… uh…" the officer stammered then pointed his gun at Tim. "You're coming to the station for questioning."

Tim went to respond, but Cheryl put a hand on his shoulder and stepped past him towards the police officer.

"Now officer I'm sure you're confused by all of this," Cheryl said. "But what you need to know is that we're only trying to help."

The officers looked at the five of them and clearly weren't buying the story. Betty didn't blame them; they looked more like they were dressed up for Halloween than stopping a demon invasion.

"I need you to step back mam," the officer said shifting his gun to Cheryl.

"Please don't point that at me, or I'll be forced to take it from you," Cheryl said.

There was a long moment but the officer didn't lower his weapon. Cheryl gave a slight sigh and then reached out and grabbed the officer's gun and ripped it from his hand and tossed it aside. In response two of the other officers raised their guns and fired at her. The bullets bounced off of Cheryl falling to the ground harmlessly.

"I wouldn't do that anymore," Barry suggested. "You'll make her angry."

"You need to impose a town wide curfew, like immediately," Tim said. "Get everybody inside. We will deal with the threat."

"What are you doing here?" one of the officers asked. "Why aren't you in Gotham with the Batman?"

Tim just looked at the officer but didn't respond. He then looked at Sabrina and nodded. Sabrina took her cue and had them stand around her in a circle.

"tropelet su ot eht tserof," Sabrina chanted.

Suddenly they were all teleported from the parking lot of the grocery store to the edge of the forest.

"Follow me," Tim said as he motioned for the others to follow him.

He led the way into the woods, as Betty and the others followed him. Right away they all noticed something was off. The forest was incredibly quiet as though all the animals and even the insects had fled as if they knew what danger lurked inside.

"So you can fly," Betty commented to Cheryl. "That's pretty cool."

"Yeah it is," Cheryl agreed. "I mean I can't move as fast as you or Barry, or shoot lasers from my eyes."

"Actually it's concentrated infrared energy," Betty corrected her.

"That sounds like a Dilton term," Cheryl commented.

"You got that right," Barry chimed in. "I wanted to call it heat vision."

"See now that's a much better term," Cheryl agreed.

"So besides flying and the strength and being bulletproof, do you have any other powers?" Betty inquired.

"I don't know," Cheryl replied. "I haven't really tried to do anything else."

"Oh there's several other things the Silent Armor can do," Sabrina said. "It does more than simply protect its wearer. It is able to manifest weapons like swords or spears. It has also been said that the armor can bind itself with the weapons of the gods allowing the wearer to use them, when normally a mortal would die from attempting such a thing."

"The fact that you know more about this armor than I do is unsettling," Cheryl commented.

"Well," Sabrina replied. "As I've said…"

"You know just about everything magical, mystical and mythical," Cheryl finished. "But how?"

"Oh well, that's a rather long story," Sabrina replied.

"Well I'd like to hear it some other time," Tim interrupted. "Look there's a cave up ahead, be quiet."

They made their way towards the cave. The cave seemed oddly out of place in the forest and as they approached they could hear a faint buzzing sound echoing from within the cave.

"I think we've got the right place," Barry commented.

"Certainly sounds like there could be an Advespa hive in there," Sabrina said.

"Well let's go," Cheryl said leading the way into the cave.

She entered the cave followed by Sabrina, then Barry, then Betty and Tim at the back. They were not very far into the cave when they noticed a green glow emanating from within the cave.

"What is this glow?" Cheryl asked turning to look back at Sabrina.

Sabrina shrugged not sure her. But then behind them Betty stumbled and fell to one knee.

"Betty? Are you alright?" Tim asked as he tried to help her to her feet.

"I know what this is," Barry said as he assisted Tim. "It's meteor rocks."

"Meteor rocks?" Sabrina asked.

"From the meteor shower that hit Riverdale sixteen years ago," Cheryl replied.

"The rocks… they're from my home planet," Betty explained as she struggled somewhat to breathe. "They… they make me weak."

"Then you're not going to be any use in there," Tim said. "Come on, I'm taking you back outside. The rest of you go."

Barry, Cheryl and Sabrina looked at each other somewhat nervously. They knew losing Betty's help was going to make this difficult. However they continued on into the cave while Tim assisted Betty out. Once they were outside Betty felt fine once more.

"Are you alright?" Tim asked.

"I'll be fine," Betty replied. "If you can force whatever is in there out here I can help," Betty said.

"Alright, I'll go tell the others," Tim stated.

He turned to re-enter the cave but then suddenly the ground began to shake. Tim and Betty both looked at each other confused as they tried to steady themselves.

"Earthquake?" Betty asked.

"I doubt it," Tim replied.

Just then there was the sound of cracking and the entrance to the cave collapsed sealing it shut.

"The other's they're trapped," Betty exclaimed.

She went to go try and move the rubble away from the entrance of the cave when the ground beneath her seemed to swell upwards. Betty looked down to see the dirt sort of rippling almost like a drop into a still pool of water. Then she heard something.

"Tim move!" Betty shouted at him.

A split second later Betty found herself suddenly tossed into the air as something erupted from below. She was about thirty feet high in moments and she looked down to see Tim lying on the ground having been knocked down.

Betty then experienced a brief moment of weightlessness as her sudden ascent stopped before she plummeted back to the ground. As she did Betty saw something emerge from the ground flying up towards her and realized that it had to be what had caused these minor earthquakes.

It looked similar to the small wasps, or Advespas as Sabrina had called them. But it was bigger, much, much bigger. Easily thirty feet long it was absolutely gigantic. However where the head of the gigantic insect should have been, instead was what looked like the upper body of a woman. She had eyes that were segmented like an insect's and a pair of small antennae protruding from her forehead. But there was also something oddly familiar.

"Midge?" Betty asked more to herself than anyone as she fell back to earth, landing hard enough to create a small crater.

Betty grunted as she picked herself up as the huge half-wasp half-woman creature flew up into the air, its vast gossamer wings creating a loud deafening drone. Nearby Tim was getting to his feet, Betty raced over and helped him up.

"We need to stop that thing!" Tim shouted over the buzzing of the creature's wings.

Betty looked up, whatever the creature was, it couldn't fly particularly well as its flight was awkward and slow. But it might also be Midge, possessed by a demon like Brigitte had been. If that was the case Betty couldn't bring herself to just kill her. Perhaps Sabrina could drive out the demon and Midge could be brought to face the proper justice for everything she had done.

Betty looked up and remembered Jason's death and the anger and sadness that she had felt. She felt the heat build-up in her eyes and then she unleashed a blast of her heat vision. It struck the creatures wings and practically burned them off. The buzzing noise stopped and the creature plummeted to earth letting out a screech as it did.

"Nice job," Tim said slapping Betty on the back.

The creature picked itself up quickly however and turned around and looked at Tim and Betty. It then let out another inhuman sounding screeching and suddenly a gigantic swarm of the small Advespa came flying up from out of the hole it had made when it had emerged from the ground.

"Oh crap," Tim muttered.

Beside him Betty was equally nervous not sure what the two of them could possibly do.

* * *

 _Is this creature Midge? What happened to Barry, Cheryl and Sabrina? Will Betty and Tim be able to save the town? Please Review and you'll find out in the next chapter._


	48. Chapter 46

**Chapter 46**

* * *

 _A/N: If you haven't yet, please check out my story Cheryl Blossom - Wonder Girl to learn how Cheryl gained her powers._

* * *

"So Tim, do you have a plan for this?" Betty asked as she looked at the huge swarm of Advespa gathering in the sky, there were so many that they were starting to black out the sun.

"I got nothing," Tim replied, as he desperately tried to keep the nervousness from his voice.

Betty knew she could use her heat vision but using it repeatedly left her feeling drained, and she wasn't sure she had it in her to deal with all of these demon wasps.

The swarm began descending towards them; Betty let loose with a blast of her heat vision blasting a hole through the swarm till the sky was visible once more, but more of the bugs quickly filled the hole in. Betty couldn't help but feel somewhat hopeless.

Just then they heard something and suddenly something emerged from the hole. Betty and Tim looked to see Cheryl holding a sword flying up towards the swarm. As she neared she let out a cry and the bugs all began trying to attack her. Some she punched and others she slashed with her sword. Dead Advespa fell to the ground in large numbers but there were still more.

"tniag llaberif!" they then heard as a huge ball of flame erupted upwards out of the hole striking the swarm.

"Ha, ha, yes!" Betty exclaimed.

Betty unleashed another blast of her heat vision, being careful not to strike Cheryl who was fighting away against the demons. Seconds later Barry was standing beside her.

"How did you stop that thing?" Barry asked pointing at the giant half-human half-wasp thing.

"Burned it's wings off," Betty replied. "But I don't think that stopped it."

"No and I think that thing is Midge," Barry agreed as they both saw the huge creature ponderously making its way around the big hole towards them.

Suddenly Sabrina was standing beside them as well as she appeared in a puff of smoke.

"Sabrina is that… is that a possessed person?" Betty asked pointing at the monster.

"Yes, but it's unlike any kind of possession I've seen or heard about before," Sabrina replied. "It…"

"Can you do an exorcism, like you did with Brigitte?" Betty cut her off.

"Well yes," Sabrina replied. "But…"

"No buts, get started," Betty said.

"Are you sure about this?" Barry asked. "I mean you're talking about saving Midge Klump, the girl that was willing to nuke the town."

Betty glanced up into the sky at Cheryl.

"I think it will work out fine," Betty replied as she looked back down at Barry. "Now let's get rid of this swarm so we don't have such a hard time with Midge."

"I've got an idea on how to deal with that," Barry said.

Barry took off in a blur and began running along the walls of the hole. Soon he created a vortex of air that started to draw the wasp-demons down into the hole, however it was also drawing Cheryl down with it as well. Desperately she hacked away at the wasps as they were pulled towards her, however Betty realized that Cheryl was about to be over run.

Betty took a quick running start and leapt into the air across the pit towards Cheryl. She grabbed a hold of Cheryl and the two of them travelled the distance across the hole until they both slammed hard into the ground.

"Thanks," Cheryl grunted as she got to her feet.

"No problem," Betty responded.

The swarm of Advespa were now all trapped in the pit by the vortex that Barry had created. Across the pit Tim grabbed something off of this belt.

"Barry, get out of that hole!" Tim shouted.

Barry almost immediately ran out of the hole and came to a stop beside Tim and Sabrina. Tim threw whatever it was he'd taken off his belt into the hole full of the little demons. It exploded in a blue flash and then suddenly all of the wasps were frozen in one large ball.

"Betty hit it with your heat vision," Tim called out.

Betty unleashed a powerful blast of her heat vision and suddenly the entire mass of frozen Advespa exploded in a huge ball of steam.

"What was that thing?" Barry asked Tim.

"Cryo-grenade," Tim replied. "I took it off a guy named Victor Fries."

Across the pit Betty and Cheryl each let out a relieved laugh.

"Nice job," Cheryl congratulated Betty as they both grinned.

"Look out!" Barry shouted from across the hole.

Both girls turned around to see the massive wasp monster was almost right behind them. From this close they could both see that the human half was indeed Midge. Before either of them could react though, Midge smacked them with one of her massive forelegs sending both girls flying. Betty and Cheryl smashed through about a dozen trees before they came to a stop. The two of them slowly got to their feet assisting each other as they did.

"I'm going to kill her," Cheryl said.

Cheryl held her right hand out and suddenly a large golden spear manifested in her hand.

"Wait," Betty said as she grabbed a hold of the spear.

"What?" Cheryl asked.

"Midge has been possessed by a demon," Betty said. "Sabrina can drive the demon out and return her back to normal, or as normal as she is. Then we can take her to face the justice she deserves."

Cheryl glared at Betty for a moment, clearly considering things her mind.

"Alright," Cheryl agreed. "But if she tries to hurt any of you I will kill her to protect you."

"Fair enough," Betty agreed.

The spear in Cheryl's hand suddenly vanished. She then leapt into the air and began flying towards Midge.

Across the pit Barry and Tim were standing near Sabrina as she began her exorcism spell. However not long in she stopped and looked across the pit.

"This isn't a possession," Sabrina said in shock.

"It's not?" Barry asked.

"What is it?" Tim inquired.

"It's a binding," Sabrina replied. "Somebody has forcibly bound the demon and Midge together using magic. But such a spell is complex it takes quite some time to do."

"What does it require to do?" Tim asked.

"Not a lot, a cursed dagger and the knowledge of the spell and time," Sabrina replied. "Of course you'd have to keep an unwilling host body captive for the duration."

"Well Midge has been missing for months so this explains that disappearance," Tim mused. "But perhaps we should figure out why her."

"I think a more pressing question is can you undo this binding," Barry interrupted.

"I can," Sabrina said. "As long as Midge is willing."

"And if she isn't?" Tim asked.

"Then the only way to stop her is to kill her," Sabrina replied.

Across the pit Betty and Cheryl were fight against Midge trying to keep her preoccupied.

"Is this going to be another shit show like this Brigitte?" Barry asked.

"Yes, but in this case you don't need to worry about hurting Midge," Sabrina said.

"Well it looks like Betty and Cheryl are holding back," Barry said. "I'll go let them know."

Barry took off around the pit to the battle. Cheryl was floating in front of Midge landing a series of punches, but they barely seemed to be having any effect. Betty was desperately holding onto one of Midge's six legs trying to hold her in place.

"Cheryl, Betty you don't have to worry about hurting Midge," Barry said. "Sabrina says this isn't a possession, it's a binding which is different."

"Can Sabrina still drive the demon out?" Betty asked as she struggled to hold onto Midge's leg.

"Yes," Barry replied.

Betty then dashed around to the massive stinger at the end of Midge's wasp body. She grabbed a hold on it and dug her feet into the ground and with a massive effort began spinning on her heels. Cheryl was a little surprised as Midge suddenly was pulled out of the range of Cheryl's punches.

As Cheryl floated in the air she watched as Betty slowly spun around smashing Midge's massive body against the trees. Midge let out a loud screech as she tried in vain to kick at Betty with her insect legs to no luck.

Cheryl flew up into the air and waited and then as Betty continued to spin Midge around Cheryl dove and connected with a hard flying right cross to Midge's face. Green blood flew everywhere as Midge's face was busted open and her struggles became somewhat slower.

"Toss her up!" Cheryl called out to Betty as she flew up to about fifty feet in the air.

Betty spun on her heels a few more times and then threw Midge up into the air towards Cheryl. Cheryl flew a little high before dropping down as fast as she could driving her shoulder into Midge and sending her slamming down into the ground with a crash that caused all the trees nearby that were still standing to shake.

Midge lay still barely moving from beating she had taken as Cheryl came to a landing beside Betty.

"Nice team work there," Betty said as she high-fived Cheryl.

Cheryl nodded but kept her eyes on Midge. Barry came over beside them.

"Remind me never to make the two of you angry," Barry commented.

"How much longer on the spell?" Cheryl asked. "I would mind getting a few more licks in if I can."

"Just about done actually," Barry replied.

Suddenly from across the hole Sabrina launched a ball of white light at Midge. Midge began convulsing wildly and Betty, Cheryl and Barry all stepped back a bit as her huge body spasmed. Suddenly there was a flash of blinding light that caused them all to turn away. When they looked back there was a large cloud of black smoke in swirling in the air while a female humanoid form lay on the ground. The smoke then erupted in a fireball and vanished.

"That… was different," Barry commented.

"What happened?" Betty called out across the pit to Sabrina.

"The demon couldn't return to hell so it was destroyed," Sabrina replied.

Cheryl walked over to look at Midge. She was no longer a giant half-human half-wasp creature, however she still had the segmented eyes and the small antennae and her skin had a greenish tinge to it. Betty stood beside Cheryl looking down at Midge's unconscious form in disbelief.

"What the hell?" Betty muttered.

"You're sure you drove the demon out?" Cheryl asked.

"Yeah I'm sure," Sabrina replied.

Cheryl bent down picked Midge's unconscious form up with one hand holding her up so that Tim and Sabrina could see.

"Got an explanation for this then?" Cheryl asked.

Sabrina and Tim were both surprised.

"What if this is a result from a mutation from what was done to Midge before?" Barry suggested. "It's not unheard of we saw how Ambrose was sort of mutated, and given that her powers were apparently developed from wasp pheromones and meteor rocks…"

"Makes sense," Betty agreed. "But what do we do with her?"

"We lock her up," Cheryl said.

"Yeah but how do we stop her from affecting people with her pheromone powers and escaping?" Barry asked.

"Arkham Asylum in Gotham has a cell that can hold her," Tim said. "But we'll need to turn her over to the authorities first."

"I've got this," Cheryl said.

Before the others could say anything Cheryl flew off taking Midge's unconscious form with her. Barry and Betty made their way around the pit to where Sabrina and Tim were. Sabrina was clearly exhausted from casting the spell.

"Should I stop her?" Betty asked the others.

"No, if Midge does anything Cheryl will stop her," Barry said.

"As much as we've stopped all of this there's still the question of how any of this happened in the first place," Tim said. "I don't think any of us believe that Midge summoned those demons."

"She definitely didn't," Sabrina said. "I could tell from how the binding was dispelled that it was a forcible binding and not one with a willing host."

"So the question is who bound that demon to Midge," Betty stated.

"I think that answer is pretty obvious," Tim replied. "It was Hiram Lodge. He comes into this forest and then suddenly the town is attacked by a swarm of demonic wasps and then we find a massive demon Midge? That's too many coincidences."

"You're probably right," Barry agreed. "But we don't have any definitive proof. And there's a lot of other questions like what is he up to and why?"

"Or how about where is he?" Betty added.

"Let's get back to town and we can start looking for him," Tim suggested.

* * *

Cheryl came to a landing outside of Riverdale's police station. She pushed open the doors forcefully as she made her way inside. She stopped at the booking desk and tossed Midge's unconscious form to the floor. The officers in the station all drew their guns and pointed them at her.

"Don't point those at me," Cheryl said angrily as she pointed at Midge. "Point them at her. This is Midge Klump, the girl that tried to blow our town up back in September."

"What… what happened to her?" the nearest officer asked clearly nervous.

"No idea," Cheryl replied with a shrug. "All I know is I found her, stopped her and brought her here, with some help from my friends. So I suggest you guys lock her up, probably some place air tight and don't let any men near her."

"Why not?" A woman officer asked.

"Because despite that hideous appearance she can force any man to do whatever she says," Cheryl replied.

With that Cheryl walked out of the police station.

"Hey wait!" an officer called after her as he tried to catch up to her.

However Cheryl had already taken into the air once more and flown off.

* * *

Hubert Smithers was going through the Lodge Mansion inspecting everything to make sure that the cleaning staff had done their job properly. Hubert was the Lodge family butler and had been with the Lodge's for fifteen years now. A balding portly man, Smithers was a man of fierce loyalty. He'd been given hundreds of offers over the years to betray Hiram Lodge but never once had he accepted. To Smithers loyalty and his word was worth more than money.

He passed by Hiram Lodge's study, the door was closed as it often was. Smithers never went in the study unless Mr. Lodge asked him to enter. He was about to move on to the next room when he heard a thump emanating from behind the study door. He stopped, turned back, and knocked on the door.

"Mr. Lodge? Are you in there?" Smithers asked.

There was no reply and everything seemed quiet. Smithers stood there listening for several seconds before he started to move on again but then once more he heard a thump. He turned back and knocked on the door louder this time.

"Mr. Lodge is that you?" Smithers asked.

Once again there was no reply. Smithers wondered if perhaps there was an intruder. He flung the door opened and entered the room. But as he looked around he didn't see anything. He walked around the desk and saw that a pair of paperweights had fallen on the ground, although how they had fallen was a bit of a mystery.

Smithers bent down to pick them up and put them back on the desk. As he was standing back up he heard something behind him. Smithers turned around and let out a terrified scream at what he saw but his scream was quickly silenced and Smithers fell to the floor and lay still.

* * *

 _Will the authorities be able to properly imprison Midge? Where is Hiram Lodge? And what happened to Smithers? Questions to ponder for the next chapter. Please review._


	49. Chapter 47

**Chapter 47**

* * *

Betty, Barry, Tim and Sabrina emerged from the forest onto the road.

"So where now?" Barry asked.

"Sabrina are you able to do a spell that can locate Hiram Lodge?" Tim inquired.

"I can try," Sabrina said. "But if he's the one responsible for bonding that Advespa Queen to Midge, then he's certainly capable of casting a spell that can hide his location."

"Well if you could try," Tim said.

"Alright, but I'll need a map," Sabrina said.

"We've got some maps back at my farm," Betty said.

Just then they all saw Cheryl flying up in the sky. She gracefully came down to a landing.

"Midge is safely with the cops," Cheryl reported.

"Good I'll use my contacts back in Gotham to try and get her transferred to Arkham," Tim said.

"So what are we doing now?" Cheryl asked.

"We're going to Betty's farm so Sabrina can try a locator spell to try and find Hiram Lodge," Barry answered.

"Alright, let's go," Cheryl said.

They gathered around Sabrina once more.

"Tropelet su ot s'ytteB marf," Sabrina cast the spell.

There was the whirl of smoke and suddenly they all found themselves standing at Betty's farm about half-way between the farmhouse and the barn.

"Come on, I'm pretty sure Dilton's got a bunch of maps of the area up in the loft in the barn," Betty said.

She led the way to the barn and up into the loft. The Monopoly board was still set up on the coffee table.

"You know I think Jughead is cheat," Barry said.

"Of course he's cheating," Betty said. "Jughead cheats at every board game that I've ever played with him."

"You knew and you said nothing?" Barry exclaimed.

"It's just a game," Betty said dismissively.

"We've got bigger things to worry about than somebody cheating at Monopoly," Tim said. "Do you mind cleaning this up Barry?"

Barry had the game packed up and put away in a matter of seconds. Betty looked around and she found a large map of the state of New Jersey, she spread it out on the coffee table.

"Will this work?" she asked Sabrina.

"It should work," Sabrina said. "Do you have a thumb tack or a nail?"

Betty went over to the desk and looked around and came back with a thumb tack which she gave to Sabrina. Sabrina took it from her and nodded her thanks. She then knelt down next to the map and ran her left hand over the map quietly whispering something. A faint glow could be seen between her hand and the map. Sabrina then held the thumb tack over the map with her right hand.

"Wohs em erehw marih egdol is detacol," Sabrina cast.

She let go of the thumb tack and it fell onto the map, bounced a few times and lay on its side. Sabrina let out a slightly frustrated sigh.

"He's masked his location," Sabrina said.

"How do you know, maybe the spell just didn't work," Tim said.

"I know the spell worked," Sabrina said. "Watch I'll find somebody else."

She picked the thumb tack up and held it over the map once more.

"Wohs em erehw mit ekard is detacol," Sabrina cast.

She let go of the thumb tack once more. This time it flew straight down into the map the pin sticking in deep. Sabrina pulled the thumb tack out and examined the mark.

"I'd say that's pretty accurate wouldn't you?" Sabrina said.

"Who did you try and locate?" Tim asked.

"Why you Tim," Sabrina replied with a smile.

The others all crowded around and looked. The pin looked to have pierced the map exactly where the farm was located.

"Okay that was pretty cool," Barry commented.

"Like I said," Sabrina said. "If he knows enough on how to bind a demon to somebody he almost certainly knows how to hide his presence from a magical locator spell."

"Well now what?" Cheryl asked.

"I have no idea," Tim said as he flopped down on one of the couches exasperated.

"You could use Dilton's police scanners," Betty suggested.

Tim sat up and looked over at the computers. He then looked at Betty and Barry.

"You have police… you know what never mind," Tim said. "I think this might work."

He ran over to the desk and sat down and put on a pair of earphones.

Sabrina got up off the floor and sat down on one of the couches and then lay over. She was clearly exhausted.

"I'm just going to take a little…" she started to say but fell asleep before she finished.

"I'll go get her a blanket," Barry offered.

He quickly took off to find one.

"Betty do you mind if I talk to you for minute?" Cheryl asked. "In private?"

Betty nodded and the two of them walked down from the loft to a far corner of the barn.

"So what's up?" Betty asked.

"I wanted to let you know, that whole reason I did this, the whole Silent Armor and everything; is because of you, and Jason," Cheryl replied.

"Well, thank you?" Betty said not sure if that was the right thing to say.

"But I was wondering if you could do me a favour," Cheryl said.

"Sure, anything, what is it?" Betty asked.

"Do you mind if I were to stay here, at the farm," Cheryl replied. "I don't think I'm ready to go home."

"Cheryl I'm sure your parents…" Betty started to say.

"My parents couldn't give a damn about me," Cheryl cut her off. "I was gone for six months and they didn't do a damn thing to try and find me. Heck I had my phone with me for the first month and they didn't even call. They don't care about me, they never did. Jason and I were just props for helping them sell houses."

"Are you sure this is about that?" Betty asked. "Or maybe you just don't want to face the reminders of Jason when you return home?"

"Maybe," Cheryl admitted. "But either way I, I can't go home."

"Well why don't you stay with my family," Betty suggested.

"No, no," Cheryl said. "I love your mom Betty, after Jason died she was more of a mother to me than my own mother ever was. And you and the rest of your family are great. But I think I need to be alone."

"I get it," Betty said with a nod of her head. "You're more than welcome to stay here. I should warn you though you won't be alone much, my friends and I we are here hanging out just about every day."

"That's fine," Cheryl said. "I'm not saying I want to be alone all the time. Heck, when school starts back up I'll probably go."

Betty let out a chuckle at that.

"What's so funny?" Cheryl asked indignantly thinking that Betty was being insulting.

"Oh sorry," Betty apologized still chuckling. "I'm just thinking about what all the other cheerleaders will be doing when they see you've returned."

Cheryl had to chuckle at that as well.

"I guess that depends on what kind of return I make," Cheryl said. "Look, I know you hide who you are and with good reason, I respect that. But as much as I want to be alone I can't do that. I mean the cops have already seen my face anyway. I doubt it will be long before the whole town knows about me."

"You're probably right," Betty agreed.

"Besides, being a cheerleader doesn't really hold any interest for me anymore," Cheryl said. "I'm surprised it ever did for you."

"It didn't really," Betty said. "You kind of manipulated me into it."

"Yeah… I guess I did," Cheryl admitted sheepishly. "Sorry about that."

"You don't need to apologize," Betty said. "If you hadn't, we probably wouldn't be friends and Midge probably would have killed you."

Cheryl nodded in agreement. Just then Barry zoomed back into the barn with a blanket for Sabrina. He gently draped it over her and then leaned over the barrier looking down at Cheryl and Betty.

"What are you two talking about down there?" Barry asked.

"Nothing, just girl stuff," Cheryl replied.

She and Betty made their way back up to the loft. Sabrina was sound asleep and Tim was over in the corner listening to the police scanner on a pair of head phones.

"So what should we do now?" Barry asked.

"We can't do anything really," Betty said. "I mean the evidence we have suggests that Hiram Lodge is behind this, the problem is none of our evidence would hold up in court or even necessarily make the police believe us."

"And we've got no idea where he is," Cheryl added.

"I think I got something," Tim called.

The others all looked at him eagerly awaiting what he'd learned.

"They just found a dead body at the Lodge Mansion," Tim reported. "Sounds like the police are trying to keep this quiet, but a 911 call just came in."

"Is it Hiram Lodge?" Betty asked.

"I don't think so," Tim replied.

"I could run over there and take a look," Barry offered.

"No, the place will probably be full of people," Tim said. "Somebody will probably see you. I'll keep monitoring the police chatter, but I think our best bet is to examine the dead body once it's in the morgue. It'll be much easier to sneak in there."

"It will probably take some time though for them to clear the scene and move the body," Cheryl said.

"At least a few hours," Tim agreed.

"So what do we do in the mean time?" Barry asked.

"Well Sabrina is obviously exhausted, and frankly I could use some rest after the battle with Midge and all those other demons," Betty said. "I think we should just recuperate for a little while."

"That's probably a good idea," Tim said.

"We should probably let Sheila and Jughead know what's going on," Barry suggested to Betty.

"Yeah actually maybe they can pick up something to eat and bring it here," Betty added. "I'm starving."

"I could go for something to eat," Cheryl said. "I've had to survive on my own cooking for quite a while now."

"Oh that sounds rough," Betty joked.

"Laugh if you want but I actually have learned a few things," Cheryl said. "I'm not going to be winning any cooking shows but at least it's edible and tastes alright."

"Hey that's good for you," Barry congratulated her.

Betty found her phone which she had left here and opened it up and texted Sheila. She asked Sheila to pick up some food and come back to the farm with Jughead so they could talk about what had happened today. About a minute later she got a response from Sheila that she and Jughead were going to pick up take out from Pop's and that they should be there in about forty-five minutes. Betty added that there were five of them already out at the farm already so to make sure to get enough food for seven people.

* * *

"Hey guys!" Jughead called as he entered the barn. "We brought food."

"Up here!" Betty called from loft.

Sheila and Jughead made their way up to the loft. They were each carrying large paper bags that smelled of grease and deliciousness.

"We order fried…" Sheila started to say. "OH MY GOD! OHMYGOD! OHMYGOD! Cheryl you're back!"

Cheryl smiled from where she was sitting on the couch.

"I forgot just how excited you can get," Cheryl commented with a smile.

"Okay, and the magician is here too, you guys have got to tell us what is going on," Jughead said.

"Well sit down, and we'll tell you as we eat," Betty said.

Everybody sat down around the coffee table as Jughead and Sheila opened the bags and brought out Styrofoam containers filled with fish and chips. Everyone passed the food around so everybody had something to eat and then began sharing the condiments and napkins. As they were eating Betty, Barry, Cheryl, Sabrina and Tim each told Jughead and Sheila what had happened. Once that had been done Cheryl had told the story of how she had gained her powers.

"So you're saying you met an actual goddess?" Tim asked her once she was done her story.

"I don't know if who I met was actually Athena or not," Cheryl replied. "All I know is what she told me. But I have no reason not to believe her."

"It probably was Athena," Sabrina said nonchalantly as she dipped a fry in some mayonnaise and then ate it. "Your whole situation is just the sort of thing where Athena would intervene."

"Have you met her before?" Cheryl asked.

Sabrina shook her head.

"No, but I know of her and I've met others who had met her," Sabrina replied.

"Man this is so cool," Sheila said excitedly. "I know somebody who talked to a god."

"You know I've told you about everything I've been up to," Cheryl said. "But I'd like to know what's happened here that I've missed."

"There's a few crazy things," Jughead said. "That new pizza place opened up down near the beach, and yet they don't serve anchovies on their pizzas."

"I don't think Cheryl really cares about that," Sheila said.

"Well I do enjoy anchovies on my pizza," Cheryl admitted.

"I'm sure you'd like to know about how Ginger Lopez is the new head cheerleader and how she's been dating both Reggie and Archie," Betty said.

"I'm guessing she kicked the two of you off the team," Cheryl said.

"Well I quit actually," Betty said. "You weren't there anymore and that was pretty much the sole reason I was on the team."

"I quit too," Sheila said. "I don't think the other cheerleaders like me very much."

"They don't," Cheryl said. "They find your exuberant cheerfulness… annoying."

Sheila's face fell.

"Do you think I'm annoying?" Sheila asked.

"At first a little," Cheryl replied. "But honestly once I got to know you it stopped bothering me. If those bitches can't get past that, it's their loss."

"Okay who are you and what did you do with Cheryl?" Jughead asked.

"You know Junior Prom is next Friday," Barry piped up. "We should go."

"Yeah we are juniors," Betty agreed.

"I think it would be fun to go as a group," Sheila said.

"That's not what I… never mind," Barry muttered quietly.

"Junior Prom? Well now I have to come back to school," Cheryl said with a smirk.

"Oh boy maybe tomorrow we can go dress shopping," Sheila said excitedly. "And the boys can go get fitted for tuxes."

"I actually own my own tuxedo," Tim said. "But I think perhaps we should consider using tomorrow to try and figure out what Hiram Lodge is up to, provided he does try to destroy the town this evening."

As Betty looked around she could see disappointment on the faces of several of her friends.

"How about we play it by ear Tim?" Betty suggested. "I mean tonight Barry and I can go to the morgue and check on the body and tomorrow we'll see where to go from there."

"I'll check on the body by myself," Barry said.

"What? Why?" Betty asked rather surprised.

"I can get in and out faster than you," Barry said. "And really two of us going would just double the chances of getting caught."

Betty thought Barry was acting a little strange, but his point was rather valid.

"Alright fine, go alone," Betty said with a shrug of her shoulders. "I could use a couple extra hours of sleep."

Everyone else looked around feeling a little uncomfortable with the exchange between Betty and Barry.

"So... what colour dress were you thinking of wearing?" Cheryl asked Sheila trying to break the tension. "Because I'm really thinking that red is my colour."

The conversation started up and got light hearted once more, but Betty couldn't help but feel like Barry was acting a little strange.

* * *

 _Just what is this tension between Betty and Barry about? And what is Barry going to find when he goes to examine Smithers' body? Please keep reading and Please Review_


	50. Chapter 48

**Chapter 48**

* * *

It was 2 a.m. and the Riverdale Morgue at the police station was quiet. The only people in the station were the officers on desk duty, and they didn't notice a red blur come streaking in making its way specifically to the morgue.

Barry came to a stop in morgue and looked around. Lying on the slab partially autopsied was the body of the man from the supermarket who had died from blood loss from his amputated hand, who had resurrected and grown a gigantic slimy black claw that had attacked Betty, only to be killed a second time by Cheryl.

"Man that is just gross," Barry muttered to himself as he looked at the body.

He peeked under the sheet and saw that the man's insides had started to turn black, but it didn't look like they were rotting per say, but rather that something else was happening. Probably from the demonic possession Barry thought to himself.

He went over to the cold storage drawers and went looking for the body from the Lodge Mansion. The first two drawers he checked were empty but then the third one he opened contained a portly balding man with wisps of dark hair. His skin was incredibly pale and his veins could be seen beneath the skin, but they looked to be a dark purple in colour, which Barry found odd.

Barry looked around to try and find the autopsy report. He looked it over and found that the coroner had been unable to determine a cause of death but was waiting on toxicology reports.

Barry took out his phone and using the camera he took a few pictures of the body and of the report. He then put everything back where it had been and closed the drawer and ran out of the police station.

* * *

In her cell Midge sat up as she thought she saw a red blur fly past. She found that her vision was extremely sensitive now that she had weird segmented insect eyes and the lack of eyelids now meant that she couldn't close her eyes to sleep so the smallest little change in lighting would wake her up.

The holding area she was in had three single cells and there was a wall of bars that led to the area just outside the cells. That was currently covered up with thick plastic, probably as a way to protect against her pheromone powers, although Midge wasn't sure if she even had them anymore. She'd had no contact with anybody since regaining consciousness.

However she had overheard people talking about her. Apparently she was going to be transferred to some place called Arkham Asylum. If she was recalling correctly it was located near Gotham.

Midge got up off of her bed and walked over to the cell door. She pulled on the bars trying to pull the cell door open but it wouldn't budge. When she had been possessed by the demon she'd had an incredible amount of strength, but now it seemed like she just had her normal strength once more. But Midge knew that something about her had changed, she just needed to figure out what, hopefully before she was moved to Arkham because escaping from there would be a lot more difficult.

* * *

It was fairly early in the morning and Betty arrived at the farm. She made her way to the barn and up into the loft. Sabrina and Cheryl were already there. Sabrina had spent the night at the farm along with Cheryl. Cheryl was sitting in one of the chairs with her feet up on the coffee table while she drank a cup of coffee. Sabrina was sitting crossed legged on one of the couches while she had a cup of tea.

"Hey Betty, do you want some coffee or tea?" Cheryl offered as she indicated a tea pot and a coffee pot sitting on the table.

"No I'm okay," Betty said as she sat down next to Sabrina. "Have you heard from Tim or Barry?"

"Tim said he was on his way," Cheryl said. "I guess Barry talked to him about what he found."

"I'm surprised Barry didn't talk to me," Betty commented. "I feel like he's upset about something."

Just then they heard the sound of a motorcycle engine getting louder till it came to a stop just outside the barn. Moments later Tim entered.

"Is everyone here?" Tim asked.

"Everyone except Barry," Sabrina replied.

"You'd think he'd be the first one here," Tim said. "What with how fast he is, I'll text him."

Tim pulled out his phone and sent Barry a text. Not even fifteen seconds later Barry arrived.

"Hey Barry, how's it going?" Betty greeted him.

"So I found something rather strange last night," Barry said ignoring Betty. "Tim do you mind grabbing that lap top?"

Tim went over and grabbed one of Dilton's laptops and set it down on the table and turned it on for Barry. Barry pulled his phone out and plugged it into the laptop and uploaded the pictures he had taken the night before. He then clicked on the files and opened the picture up. Sabrina gave a gasp almost immediately as they all saw a picture of a man who looked incredibly pale with dark purple veins prominent all along his body.

"Are the colours here accurate?" Sabrina asked.

"What do you mean?" Barry asked.

"His veins," Sabrina said pointing at the picture. "They were the same dark purple?"

"Yeah pretty close to that," Barry replied.

"Crap," Sabrina muttered.

"What? What is it?" Tim asked.

"I took a picture of the coroner report," Barry said bringing up another picture. "There was no listed cause of death yet, but they were waiting on a toxicology report."

"It will be negative," Sabrina said. "I know what killed him, or at least how he was killed."

"What killed him?" Cheryl inquired.

"His soul was consumed," Sabrina answered.

"Something ate his soul?" Betty asked somewhat confused.

"Eaten isn't quite the right term for it," Sabrina said, "Because it's not quite the same as when you or I would eat something. Certain demons are able to draw the soul out of a human and absorb it into their body. A removed soul is simple a floating ball of energy kind of like a small sun. Some of them absorbed seemingly by inhaling it, others simple absorbed it into themselves."

"So why's this so bad?" Tim asked.

"Because consuming souls isn't a power that most demons have, it's something only the most powerful demons, the ones known as the Lords of Hell, can do" Sabrina said.

"Okay that doesn't sound good," Barry said.

"Are you saying that one of the Lords of Hell has been brought here?" Cheryl asked.

"It looks that way, but it's not possible," Sabrina said. "There's a barrier between our realm and hell that prevents the most powerful demons from coming here, and if that did happen the balance of hell would likely be disrupted."

"So what exactly is going on?" Betty asked.

"I don't know," Sabrina admitted. "I'm going to need to talk with some others to find out."

"Talk to who?" Tim inquired.

"Well I wasn't just born with magical knowledge," Sabrina said. "I had to learn some how and I had several teachers, witches, warlocks, sorcerers, and even a couple demons; not all of them are evil."

"You're going to go talk to demons?" Barry asked in disbelief.

"Well a demon, multiple demons would probably be unnecessarily dangerous," Sabrina corrected him. "It might take about a day."

"Take me with you," Barry insisted. "Please?"

Sabrina looked at him surprised.

"Why do you want to come?" Sabrina asked.

"Because I want to see this stuff," Barry said.

Sabrina shrugged.

"Alright," she agreed. "But don't say anything and stay close to me. However I need to go back to my place first to get something."

She took a hold of Barry's hand.

"Tropelet su ot ym emoh," Sabrina cast.

Suddenly she and Barry vanished in a cloud of smoke.

"I am never going to get used to seeing that," Tim commented.

"Why do you think Barry wanted to go with her?" Betty asked.

"He's interested in demons and stuff probably," Cheryl said as she sat back down and sipped her coffee once more.

"I dunno, I feel like he's upset about something," Betty said.

"I guess," Cheryl agreed. "Kind of reminds me a bit of when Reggie would get jealous when I would talk to other boys."

Betty slapped her forehead as she suddenly realized what it was.

"Oh my god I know what it is," Betty said. "It's because Barry has a crush on you Cheryl."

"So? Most boys do," Cheryl said. "I am pretty hot. I recall he was staring at my breasts for quite a while yesterday."

"I don't mean like that," Betty said. "Well okay, that's part of it, but I think it's more than that."

"Really?" Cheryl asked a little doubtful. "I mean we don't really know each other that well."

Betty shrugged.

"Well to be perfectly honest I'm not that interested in boys at the moment," Cheryl said.

"That's disappointing," Tim commented.

Betty and Cheryl both looked at him having forgotten he was even there.

"Oh don't stop on my account," Tim said holding up his hands. "This is all utterly riveting."

"You know I could throw you all the way back into town without breaking a sweat," Betty commented.

"So could I," Cheryl said.

"Hey, hey no need for violence here," Tim protested. "We're all friends."

"You know, maybe we should figure out which of us is stronger," Betty suggested to Cheryl.

"That's an interesting idea," Cheryl said. "How do you propose we do so?"

"Probably the simplest way would be for the two of you to arm wrestle," Tim suggested. "Although I would recommend taking it outside and doing it on the ground. I have a feeling if you did it on the table here it would break in half."

"Yeah, avoiding excessive damage is probably a good idea," Betty agreed.

"Alright, let's go do this," Cheryl said as she stood up.

Cheryl hopped over the railing from the loft jumping all the way down to the floor of the barn, not bothering to take the stairs. Betty followed doing the same.

"Show offs," Tim muttered as he took the stairs so he could watch.

Betty and Cheryl made their way outside and found a nice flat spot outside and they both lay down. The two of them held their hands out and interlocked their fingers.

"I'll start you," Tim offered.

Both girls glanced over at him and then nodded.

"Alright, ready, go!" Tim started them.

Cheryl and Betty both began pushing trying to force the other's hand to the ground. Betty didn't use all of her strength immediately and found herself being pushed down by Cheryl. She put more force into and began forcing Cheryl's arm the other way. Across from her Cheryl frowned and growled and suddenly Betty found her arm being pushed back down once more. Betty responded with a loud grunt of her own and slowly began pushing Cheryl's hand to the ground.

Cheryl strained trying to reverse the effort, but Betty was too strong. Betty slammed Cheryl's hand into the dirt leaving an imprint.

"Ha, ha!" Betty exclaimed triumphantly as she got up.

"I almost had you there," Cheryl said.

"You did," Betty agreed. "Although I wasn't using all my strength until the end there."

"Me neither," Cheryl admitted.

"Well now we know which of you is stronger," Tim said.

"Of course how strong that is, well that's going to be pretty hard to measure," Betty said.

"So… what should we do while we wait for Barry and Sabrina to return?" Cheryl asked.

"Well Jughead and Sheila will be coming by soon, we were going to play Settlers of Catan," Betty said.

"What's that?" Cheryl asked.

"It's a board game," Betty replied.

"A board game, no it's THE board game," Tim said. "Settlers is like the best strategy board game ever!"

"Do you want to play?" Betty asked. "Because Jughead has the expansion so you can play with up to 6 players."

"I never say no to a game of Catan," Tim replied.

"Awesome, I'll text Jughead asking him to bring the expansion," Betty said.

* * *

Barry and Sabrina appeared outside a large Victorian style house.

"This is your home?" Barry asked.

"Yes… sort of," Sabrina replied. "I live here with my two aunts. They're a little… odd."

"I'm the fastest person alive, one of my best friends is an alien and the girl I've got a crush on can fly," Barry said. "I'd say my life is filled with odd, how strange can they be in comparison?"

"Hold on to that thought," Sabrina said as she led the way up the steps to the covered porch.

As they reached the top of the porch the door burst open and a woman with long bright orange hair who was dressed like a 1960's hippy came out.

"Sabrina!" she exclaimed spreading her arms and then embracing Sabrina in a hug.

"Hello Aunt Hilda," Sabrina said somewhat reluctantly returning the hug.

"Oh and who is this?" Hilda asked as she broke off the hug and looked at Barry.

"Aunt Hilda this is…" Sabrina began.

"Barry Allen," Hilda finished for her.

"What… how did she?" Barry stammered in surprise.

"It was in the cards," Hilda said.

She held up what looked kind of like a Tarot card, except it had an image on it that somewhat resembled Barry's hero costume. Underneath the image it read _LXII. - The Flash – Barry Allen_.

"What the heck?" Barry muttered as he looked at the card completely confused.

"My Aunts are witches," Sabrina said as if that should explain everything. "They can help us with what we need to do."

"So this isn't you bringing a prospective husband home?" Hilda asked her niece.

"No," Sabrina replied emphatically. "Barry's only 16, he's still in high school."

"Love doesn't care about age Sabrina," Hilda said.

Sabrina just sighed and shook her head.

"Is Aunt Zelda home?" Sabrina asked.

"She's inside," Hilda replied.

"Come on Barry," Sabrina said as she made her way inside. "My Aunt Zelda is odd too, but in a different way."

As Barry followed Sabrina into the house he wondered just what he should expect.

* * *

 _A little delay on this most recent update I know. I had a busier weekend with family things than I was expecting and this past week has been a busy one too. It might be a little while before the next chapter too because I'm currently working on a Sabrina origin story which will have some things in it that will also explain other elements I have planned for the next chapter. Please review!_


	51. Chapter 49

**Chapter 49**

* * *

 _Before reading this chapter please make sure that you have read my story Sabrina Origins first or else much of this chapter will not make sense._

* * *

Barry looked about the house. It didn't seem that odd.

"Aunt Zelda?" Sabrina called out.

Moments later a woman with green hair dressed in all black emerged from a nearby room.

"Sabrina, what are you doing here?" the woman, who was apparently Sabrina's Aunt Zelda, inquired.

"I need to speak with my mother," Sabrina said. "Do you have any Shadow Thread?"

"Who is he?" Zelda asked looking at Barry and ignoring Sabrina's question.

"This is Barry Allen, a friend of mine," Sabrina said. "Now this is important, do you have any Shadow Thread?"

Once again Zelda ignored Sabrina's question.

"My niece has a habit of leaving out details," Zelda said. "I doubt she's told you who her mother is. But tell me Barry Allen, is this truly urgent?"

Barry shook his head and shrugged.

"I really don't know what's going on, but in the past 24 hours we've fought against multiple demons so I would say it's probably somewhat urgent," Barry replied.

Zelda frowned and looked at Sabrina.

"Demons? Do you think it's…?" Zelda asked trailing off.

"No, we're pretty sure that it's a man named Hiram Lodge summoning them," Sabrina said. "But I fear he's doing something far worse than just summoning demons. If it was just summoning demons I could handle that and I wouldn't be here."

"You know there are other ways to do this," Zelda said.

"I need to speak with her face to face," Sabrina stated firmly.

"Very well," Zelda agreed with a resigned sigh.

She stepped back into the room she had come from and Sabrina and Barry followed. Barry looked around and saw that it was some sort of den, or office or library. Zelda opened a drawer on the desk in the room and pulled out a small wooden box. She quietly muttered something and then opened it and pulled out a dark piece of thread that was perhaps two feet long.

"Okay, why do you need some piece of string?" Barry asked completely confused about what was going on.

"Well if I want to go visit my mother I kind of need to dress the part," Sabrina replied.

Barry just stared at her blankly not understanding at all.

"Her mother is in hell," Zelda explained.

"So we're going to travel to hell?" Barry asked.

"Well I'm going to travel to hell," Sabrina replied.

"Really, you bring him here only to leave him behind for the trip to hell?" Zelda asked.

"It's dangerous," Sabrina argued.

"Hey, I faced all those other demons and came out just fine," Barry said.

"Hell is far more dangerous than anything we faced yesterday," Sabrina retorted.

"I have one last piece of Shadow Thread," Zelda said opening the box once more and taking out another piece of thread. "We can send both of you."

"Good," Barry said before Sabrina could argue further. "Let's do this."

* * *

"Ha, ha! Eleven!" Jughead exclaimed.

Jughead was playing Catan with Betty, Cheryl, Sheila and Tim. He began picking up his corresponding resources.

"Hold on a second," Tim said. "Let me see those dice."

Before Jughead could do anything Tim picked them up and examined them.

"These are weighted!" Tim said. "Where are the proper dice?"

Neither Betty nor Sheila was at all surprised, but they knew Jughead's reputation of cheating at every board game. But Tim and Cheryl didn't.

"You're cheating?" Cheryl exclaimed.

She grabbed Jughead by the back of his shirt and lifted him up with just one hand holding him in the air. A pair of dice dropped out of his hand onto the floor. Cheryl tossed Jughead onto the couch and picked the fallen dice up and handed them to Tim.

"These are the proper dice," Tim said after comparing the dice Cheryl had given him to the weighted ones.

He handed the weighted one to Cheryl.

"Can you deal with these?" Tim asked her.

Cheryl took the dice and squeezed her hand into a fist. There was a cracking noise and when she opened her hand the remains of the weighted dice fell to the ground as little more than dust.

"I told you that your cheating would tick the wrong person off one day," Betty said smugly to Jughead.

Jughead just grumbled something under his breath as he stared angrily at the board.

"What do you think Barry and Sabrina are doing right now?" Sheila asked trying to break the tension and change the subject.

"I honestly don't know," Tim replied. "There's so much we don't know about her."

"Well hopefully we'll find out when they get back," Betty said.

* * *

" **Whoa this is freaky**!" Barry exclaimed.

Barry was covered in the Necroplasm armour of a Hellspawn, beside him Sabrina was likewise. He raised a hand to his throat as he noticed his voice sounded different.

" **Well it's about to get freakier** ," Sabrina said, her voice also changed.

She grabbed Barry's hand.

" **Tropelet su ot hcomyirbA** ," Sabrina cast.

The teleportation was different than the previous times Barry had been teleported by Sabrina. It was somewhat dizzying and his vision was a blur of colours. When the dizziness finally subsided Barry looked around to see that he and Sabrina were in some sort of city with buildings made of black stone and the air was hot and heavy.

" **Where are we**?" Barry asked.

" **Abriymoch** , **the capital city of Phlegethos** , **one of the many sections of Hell** ," Sabrina answered.

" **We're in a city of Hell to see your mother**? **Maybe I should have asked this before we came here** , **Why**?" Barry asked.

" **My mother lives here now** ," Sabrina replied.

Barry sensed that Sabrina was deliberately not telling him the entire truth. He wasn't sure why though. He followed Sabrina as she made her way through the city.

" **Um** , **do we have to worry about being attacked by demons**?" Barry asked as he nervously looked about.

" **Only if you keep acting all nervous and being raising suspicions** ," Sabrina stated a little angrily.

" **Sorry** ," Barry apologized.

They made their way through the city until they arrived at an enormous palace. There was a gigantic red demon with an equally massive sword standing guard at the entrance.

" **Hello Gazra** , **remember me**?" Sabrina asked.

The demon said nothing just stared at her.

" **May we pass**?" Sabrina inquired.

The demon considered for a moment. Barry was worried that it was about to kill them when all of a sudden it stepped aside and motioned for them to enter. Sabrina confidently strode into the palace while Barry followed behind a little confused and concerned.

" **So you've been here before**?" Barry asked.

" **Yes** , **about five year ago** ," Sabrina replied. " **Although time here in Hell is strange so here that could have been five hundred years**."

" **This is so confusing** ," Barry muttered more to himself than Sabrina.

They soon came to a pair of heavy set doors. Two large coal black winged demons with large tusk-like fangs protruding from their lower jaw and spiral horns carrying large poleaxes guarded the door.

" **We're here to see Lady Fierna** ," Sabrina said.

The two guards stared at them.

"Let them in," a female voice called from the other side of the door.

The guards pushed the doors open to let Barry and Sabrina in. They entered a throne room. Seat upon the throne was a demoness with the body of a beautiful woman. She had pinkish-red skin and small horns as well a long tail with a vicious barb on the end. She was dressed in a short translucent black dress. Barry assumed that this was Lady Fierna. She stood up and smiled at Sabrina and Barry as they entered.

"Hello Sabrina," Fierna greeted. "Who's your friend?"

" **Hello mother** ," Sabrina responded.

For a moment there Barry thought he had misheard.

" **Wait** , **what**? **Your mother**?" Barry asked confused.

"Oh Sabrina, are you not telling your boyfriends about me?" Fierna said with a fake hurt look on her face.

" **Barry is not my boyfriend** ," Sabrina replied.

"No, well maybe he and I can play then," Fierna said.

" **I thought your mother's name was Diana** ," Barry said trying to ignore Fierna's advance.

" **It was** ," Sabrina said. " **Fierna was the daughter of Belial** , **the previous Lord of Phlegethos**. **My mother was the vessel to resurrect her** , **now the two are one in the same**. **Although Fierna is the dominant personality**."

"You make it sound like it's a bad thing Sabrina," Fierna said.

" **We're not getting into this now** ," Sabrina said. " **There's problems back on Earth**. **I think somebody is resurrecting a dead Lord of Hell**."

"That's not possible," Fierna said.

" **Only you Hell Lords can absorb souls** , **it leaves a tell-tale sign of purple veins on the victim** ," Sabrina said.

"Yes but that's not possible," Fierna said. "The whole reason why Diana… why I need to be brought to hell was because I could not be resurrected on Earth."

Realization suddenly dawned on Barry.

" **That's why Hiram has all that meteor rock** ," Barry said. " **To counter act that**. **The meteors aren't from Earth**."

Fierna suddenly looked concerned.

" **What is it**?" Sabrina asked her.

"I've been hearing rumours," Fierna replied. "There's talk about the old Lord being brought back."

" **Belial** , **your father**?" Sabrina asked.

"No," Fierna answered. "The resurrection needs to be done by a human and Belial never cultivated much a following. I'm talking about Trigon."

" **Trigon**? **Who's Trigon**?" Barry asked.

" **He used to rule nine of the sections of hell until he was killed in an uprising** ," Sabrina replied. " **He's the one that killed Fierna before**."

"It's bad for both Earth and Hell if he returns," Fierna said worriedly. "If you need help…"

" **I'm not taking any help from you** ," Sabrina said. " **The last thing I need is to be indebted to you**."

"Sabrina I don't want anything," Fierna protested.

" **We've already got everything we need** ," Sabrina said to Barry as she ignored Fierna. " **Let's leave**."

" **Shouldn't we at least…** " Barry started to ask.

" **Tropelet su kcab emoh** ," Sabrina cast.

Suddenly they were teleporting once more. A moment later Barry and Sabrina were back in Sabrina's Aunts' house. The Hellspawn armour quickly faded away and Barry and Sabrina were back to normal.

"How did it go?" Zelda asked.

"It's not good," Sabrina replied. "Hiram Lodge might be trying to resurrect Trigon."

"But that shouldn't be possible." Zelda stated.

"Barry theorized that Hiram is using meteor rocks as a loophole to the fact that he can't be resurrected on Earth," Sabrina said.

"We need to get back to the others and let them know," Barry said.

"You're right," Sabrina agreed. "Thank you Aunt Zelda for your help."

"You be safe and good luck," Zelda said.

Sabrina gave her Aunt a hug and then took Barry's hand.

"Tropelet su ot s'ytteB mraf," Sabrina cast.

Suddenly she and Barry were back on the farm standing just outside the barn. They made their way up to the loft where Jughead and Tim were arguing about something while Betty, Cheryl and Sheila just watched.

"Oh hey you're back!" Betty noticed as Barry and Sabrina came up the stairs.

"So what did you guys learn?" Cheryl asked.

"It's not looking good," Sabrina replied. "It looks as if Hiram is trying to resurrect Trigon, perhaps one of the most powerful demons Hell has ever seen."

"But I thought you said Hell Lords couldn't come here," Tim said.

"That's where the meteor rocks come in," Barry explained. "Hell Lords can't come to Earth, but the meteor rocks aren't from Earth."

"What a convenient loophole," Sheila muttered.

"What can we do?" Betty asked.

"I don't know," Sabrina replied. "But the resurrection spell requires a human vessel. If I had to guess Hiram is serving as that vessel himself; he probably thinks he'll be the one in control. But I know he won't be."

Barry gave Sabrina a glance but said nothing.

"One thing though is that he won't be able to act for a while," Sabrina said. "Hell Lords obtain their power from their absorption of souls and it will take quite a few for Trigon to regain his power. Until then he's simply a man who can absorb souls."

"So we just follow the bodies," Jughead said.

"If he's smart we won't find them," Sabrina said. "He's hidden himself from being able to be found magically."

"Still he might slip up," Tim said. "I'll set things up so that we are alerted about any sightings of Hiram. But we'll have to be ready to move on a moment's notice."

"I hate feeling so helpless to do anything," Betty said frustrated.

"Let's take our minds off it, let's go shopping for prom dresses," Sheila suggested.

"You might as well," Tim agreed. "I can use Dilton's equipment to hack into various security services to try and find Hiram but it will take me a while."

"Hmm shopping, hard to think I haven't done that in a while," Cheryl said.

* * *

 _The story's next major villain has been revealed. But will Betty and the others be able to find him before the transformation is complete? Or if they can't will they be able to stop him?_


	52. Chapter 50

**Chapter 50**

* * *

Betty, Cheryl and Sheila were at the mall shopping for dresses.

"You know I have to say this is definitely one of the things I missed while I was away," Cheryl commented as she browsed through a rack of dresses.

"We should do this more often then," Sheila suggested.

Betty wasn't quite so enthused about the idea. She wasn't a particularly big fan of hanging out at the mall, or shopping or even trying on clothes for that matter.

"Do you think maybe we should have invited Sabrina to join us?" Betty asked.

"She said she wanted to help Tim in the search for Hiram," Cheryl replied. "Hmm, I think I'm going to go for a green dress, bring out my eyes."

"That's a good idea," Sheila said. "I'll help you look."

Betty wandered off in the store on her own looking at the dresses with some disinterest. She made her way towards the front of the store and was looking at a black dress when she saw a few of the cheerleaders from school walking by outside the store lead by Ginger Lopez.

The group stopped and looked at the store seemingly surprised. They then made their way into the store stopping in front of Betty.

"What is she doing here?" Ginger asked pointing.

Betty turned to see that Ginger was pointing at Cheryl.

"Shopping?" Betty replied unsure of the question.

"I meant why is she back in Riverdale?" Ginger asked angrily.

"Oh, um, I guess she found whatever she went looking for," Betty replied with a shrug.

Ginger frowned at Betty's response apparently not finding in acceptable and then stormed towards the back of the store the other cheerleaders close behind her. Betty followed as well just in case.

Cheryl turned around as Ginger approached and gave Ginger was friendly smile. Ginger however didn't return the smile, instead she glared angrily at Cheryl.

"What are you doing back here?" Ginger asked angrily.

"What do you mean?" Cheryl responded.

"Why are you back in Riverdale?" Ginger inquired clearly getting frustrated at this point.

"I live here, this is home," Cheryl replied.

"Sure, but let's set something straight," Ginger said. "When it comes to the school and the cheerleaders I'm the Queen now."

"Okay," Cheryl agreed.

Ginger stared at her confused. She had expected Cheryl to put up a fight.

"Okay?" Ginger asked.

"Yeah, whatever I don't care," Cheryl clarified. "You want that spot you can have it."

Cheryl's apparent disinterest in a social position that she had previously fought hard to gain and hold, infuriated Ginger. Ginger thought that Cheryl was messing with her somehow. Cheryl turned back to the rack of dresses and pulled of a teal coloured dress. Ginger slapped the dress out of Cheryl's hands knocking it to the ground.

"I don't know what kind of games you are playing…" Ginger threatened.

Suddenly she found herself lifted in the air by Cheryl with just one hand. Cheryl held Ginger up in the air with ease, Ginger's feet dangling over a foot off the ground. The other cheerleaders looked on in disbelief.

"I'm not playing any games with you," Cheryl said. "But if I were you'd lose. Now take your little group of hanger-ons and get out of my sight."

Cheryl let go of Ginger suddenly and Ginger dropped to the ground landing on her butt. The other cheerleaders helped Ginger to her feet. Ginger locked eyes with Cheryl as Cheryl just stared back calmly and neutral expression on her face. Ginger and cheerleaders however were all surprised.

"What are you?" Ginger asked.

"A girl looking to buy a dress for the junior prom, now go away," Cheryl replied.

Ginger and the cheerleaders quickly left the store. Ginger gave a glance to Betty as she left.

"Are you sure that was wise?" Betty asked Cheryl once they were gone.

"I don't know," Cheryl replied with a shrug. "But as I said before I'm not going to hide who I am and what I can do."

"Well try not to give away my secret," Betty said.

Just then the store's clerk, a young black woman in her early twenties, came rushing over.

"Hey, hey!" she shouted.

"Oh no," Betty muttered thinking that they were about to be thrown out of the store.

"Hey, you're that girl that dropped off Midge Klump at the police station yesterday and then just flew off," the clerk said to Cheryl.

"Um…" Cheryl stammered not sure what to say. "Say what?"

"Yeah it was like totally on the news, they've got footage of you from the police station's security cameras," the clerk said.

Cheryl was a little confused and glanced over at Betty and Sheila. Betty just gave Cheryl a shrug while Sheila had taken out her phone and was looking up the footage the clerk had mentioned.

"Oh wow, yeah that's totally you Cheryl," Sheila commented as she watched it. "You look totally bad-ass."

Cheryl leaned over and looked at the video as Sheila replayed.

"Huh, I guess I do, don't I?" Cheryl agreed.

"Oh my god, so like can you like fly?" the clerk asked Cheryl.

"Um… I… uh…" Cheryl stuttered not sure what to say.

"Uh miss, I'd like to pay for this dress," Betty called from over at the sales counter.

"In a minute," the clerk responded waving her off.

"You know what, I think we'd all like to pay and leave," Sheila agreed.

Sheila grabbed the dress she was most interested in and another one for Cheryl and went up to the counter taking Cheryl by the hand. The clerk followed looking rather disappointed.

"And how will you be paying today?" the clerk asked.

"Master Card," Cheryl replied handing her a card.

The clerk rang it through.

"Um your card is coming through declined," the clerk said.

"What? How is that possible?" Cheryl grumbled taking the card. "Okay try my Amex."

The clerk tried that one but it too was declined.

"What the hell is going on here?" Cheryl wondered out loud.

"Here I'll pay for it," Sheila said. "You can pay me back later."

Once they had paid the three girls left the store and began wandering the mall. Every person they passed stared at Cheryl in disbelief.

"I guess they all must have seen that footage," Betty remarked.

"Maybe not all of them," Cheryl commented as she locked eyes with a man who had to be in his eighties who was giving her a lecherous stare.

"Let's go to the food court," Sheila suggested. "I could go for a bite to eat."

They headed towards the food court as Cheryl looked at her credit cards.

"I don't understand why they were declined," Cheryl muttered, more to herself than to Betty or Sheila. "I mean they're always immediately paid off, so unless…"

She stopped as they approached a small crowd that was gathered outside of an electronics store. Everybody was watching the multiple TV's which were showing a report about the attack at the grocery store yesterday as well as the capture of Midge Klump. There was no audio but the closed captions could be seen scrolling across the bottom.

"Cheryl," Sheila said pointing. "Aren't those…"

"My parents," Cheryl finished for Sheila, her tone growing cold.

Even without the audio it was clear that Cheryl's parents Clifford and Penelope were shamelessly promoting their real estate business.

"They must have cut me off," Cheryl stated.

"Well maybe you should talk to them," Betty suggested.

"Why? They just want to use me to promote their business just like they used Jason's death," Cheryl said.

"They're your parents," Sheila said. "I'm sure they missed you."

"Clearly you two don't know them at all," Cheryl said.

"If you don't talk to them then what are you going to do?" Betty asked.

Cheryl thought for a minute and then sighed.

"Fine, I'll go talk to them," Cheryl replied. "But I want you two to come with me. Hopefully you'll see firsthand what sort of people my parents really are."

* * *

Betty, Cheryl and Sheila arrived at the Blossom household. There were three media vans parked out front as the three of them stood across the street. They could see Cheryl's father standing at the front door talking to a bunch of reporters.

"What a circus," Cheryl grumbled. "I can't talk to my parents with all of these cameras around."

"Well what do you want to do?" Betty asked.

"We need to get rid of them," Cheryl replied. "Do you think maybe you could speed them away or something?"

"Uh, no," Betty answered. "That would just raise far more questions and bring a lot more attention than there already is."

"Don't worry I got this," Sheila said.

Before either Betty or Cheryl could stop her Sheila walked across the street towards the Blossom home. Betty and Cheryl hid behind a parked car and watched as Sheila approached a camera man and said something to him. The camera man gave her a disbelieving look and then Sheila showed him something on her phone.

The camera man then went and got one of the reporters and said something. That set off a chain of events amongst the rest of the media members present. Suddenly cameras were being packed up and the reporters leaving and following Sheila.

"What the hell?" Cheryl muttered.

Just then Betty's phone beeped indicating she had a message from Sheila. Betty opened it up and saw that Sheila had sent her a picture of a selfie that Sheila had taken of herself and Cheryl. Betty let out a laugh.

"Sheila told the reporters she's your friend," Betty said as she showed the picture to Cheryl. "And she's probably leading them away somewhere."

"Hopefully not to the farm," Cheryl said.

Soon the media members were all gone and Cheryl's father was left standing at the front door looking on in disbelief before he went inside and slammed the door shut.

"Well looks like you'll get that privacy," Betty said.

"Can you, can you come with me? Please?" Cheryl asked.

"Of course," Betty said with a smile. "I've never gotten much a chance to meet them. I mean we spoke briefly at Jason's funeral…"

"Probably better not to bring that up," Cheryl said as they made their way across the street.

"Why?" Betty asked as they began heading up the walkway to the front door.

"Because then it'll take forever to get out of here," Cheryl replied.

"Alright I'll try not to," Betty said.

They reached the door and Cheryl stood there just staring at it, Betty by her side.

"Well?" Betty asked.

"I… I don't know if I should just go in, or if I should knock…" Cheryl stammered.

Betty reached out and pushed the doorbell. Cheryl turned and stared at her wide-eyed with fright. A moment later the door opened as Cheryl's father Clifford answered it. Betty noticed that he had a file folder in his hand.

"Finally you people had the sense to…" he started to say. "Cheryl?"

"Hello Dad," Cheryl said rather coolly.

Betty didn't think that Cheryl looked very much like her father. He had short muddy brown hair and thick beard that matched along with brown eyes, and he was slightly below average height for a man at about 5'9".

"Clifford who is at the door…" Cheryl's mother Penelope started to ask before trailing off when she saw Cheryl.

Betty thought that Cheryl looked quite a bit like her mother. Both had red hair and green eyes, but that was where the similarities ended, facially they looked different and while Cheryl was curvy her mother was petite. Like her husband Penelope was on the shorter side as well at only about 5'3". Cheryl was 5'11" and Jason had been over six feet tall so Betty wondered where they got their height from.

"Can we come in?" Cheryl asked.

Both her parents looked confused at first before they realized that Betty was standing next to Cheryl. Clifford stepped aside to let them both in.

"So Cheryl what prompted you to come home?" Penelope asked.

"Well that depends on what you mean by home," Cheryl replied. "If you mean why I came back to Riverdale, well certainly not because of you. But if you mean why I've come back here now, well turns out my credit cards got cancelled."

"You honestly couldn't expect us to keep paying those off for you," Clifford said.

"Well you did for about six months actually," Cheryl said. "I was travelling about Europe and I cash advanced about half a million dollars, without one issue. But the day after I come back here they're cancelled, that just seems too convenient."

"We just wanted you to come home Cheryl," Penelope said.

"You know I half believe that," Cheryl said. "I'm sure you were perfectly fine with me not being around; but the minute you saw me and my new powers the dollar signs could probably be seen in your eyes."

"Cheryl honey," her father said.

"Are you going to try and tell me that I'm wrong?" Cheryl asked incredulously. "Because if I'm not mistaken you tried to capitalize on Jason's death just days after his funeral."

"Jason's funeral…" Penelope muttered and then she looked at Betty. "Wait a minute I know you, you're the girl that Jason was dating when he died. Lizzy is it?"

"It's Elisabeth, but I go by Betty," Betty replied.

"Are you or your parents in the market for a house?" Clifford asked.

"What? No, we're good," Betty answered a little shocked.

"See, I told you Betty, it's impossible to have a conversation with them without it somehow becoming about their real estate business," Cheryl stated.

"Now see here…" Clifford started to say angrily.

"What is this?" Cheryl asked snatching the file folder he was holding from his hand. "Zephyrhills Expert Uterus Services? What the hell is this?"

"The reporters were asking about your birth," Penelope replied.

Cheryl opened the file and read it. Most of it didn't make sense but there were a few bits in there that let her know exactly what this was.

"This is a fertility clinic," Cheryl exclaimed.

"We were having trouble conceiving," Clifford said. "So we went to this clinic down in Florida."

Betty glanced over Cheryl's shoulder at the file. She'd been reading a great deal about biology since learning she was an alien trying to figure out why she was different.

"Cheryl… I don't think that Clifford is your father," Betty said.

"What?" Cheryl asked turning to look at her.

Betty pointed at a few of the details on one of the sheets.

"This is your DNA and your brother's," Betty said. "And these other two are your father and your mother. If you look you can see how you and Jason have DNA that matches your mothers in certain spots. But with your father it almost doesn't match at all."

Cheryl looked at it closer and saw that Betty was right.

"Did you know about this?" Cheryl asked.

"We learned that the problem was… your father," Penelope said. "The doctor at the fertility clinic said he could fix that problem. That's why we went to a place in Florida. But as you and your brother got older we suspected that he had lied. But when we went back to the place we found that it no longer existed. We couldn't even find records that it had even existed in the first place, all that we had, was the paperwork we had been given."

Cheryl looked from her mother to her father not saying a word.

"Let's go Betty," Cheryl as she turned and walked out.

"Uh it was nice seeing you again," Betty said feeling a little awkward before following Cheryl.

"And I'm keeping this file," Cheryl called.

It was starting to get dark as Cheryl and Betty crossed the street walking away from Cheryl's home. Betty almost had to jog to keep up with Cheryl who was walking at a furious pace. The sun was starting to go down now as it had dropped behind the houses to the west.

"Cheryl, are you alright?" Betty asked.

"Not really," Cheryl replied. "I mean I just found out my father isn't my father, I mean you can't know what that's like."

"Actually I know exactly what that's like," Betty said. "I found out the same thing back in September, and about both parents."

Cheryl came to an abrupt stop and looked at Betty.

"Oh my god I am so sorry," Cheryl apologized. "I'm making everything about me."

"It's alright," Betty said. "I'll admit our situation is a little different. I actually like my parents."

Cheryl laughed as they both began walking once more, this time at a more normal pace.

"That must be nice," Cheryl said.

"It is," Betty replied.

They walked on in silence for about a block. The sky grew red and then purple as the sun began to sink below the horizon.

"Did I make a mistake Betty?" Cheryl asked abruptly.

"With your parents?" Betty inquired for clarification.

"No," Cheryl said. "I mean with this, when I ran away from home to try and find a way to be like you."

Betty shook her head.

"No, I don't think you made a mistake," Betty answered. "Because you were also trying to be a better person and that is never the wrong thing to do."

* * *

 _A bit of a Cheryl-centric chapter here. Just trying to establish her character here though. Coming up in the next chapter, where is Hiram? Please review._


	53. Chapter 51

**Chapter 51**

* * *

"Hi Mom, I'm home," Betty called out as she opened the front door.

"Oh hello honey," her mother responded from the kitchen.

"I brought a friend home for dinner," Betty said.

"Oh who is it?" Alice asked as she came from the kitchen to the front door.

"Hello Mrs. Cooper," Cheryl greeted her politely.

"Oh Cheryl," Alice said slightly surprised. "Betty mentioned you were staying out at the farm."

"Yeah I was… or am… I can't go home and deal with my parents," Cheryl said.

Alice shot Betty a look which Betty understood immediately.

"We actually just came from there," Betty said. "It was a media circus but Sheila cleared them out."

"Really Sheila?" Alice asked.

"She convinced the reporters she was my best friend," Cheryl explained.

"Clever girl," Alice commented. "Come on you two must be hungry."

She led the way back into the kitchen. She was in the middle of cleaning up from dinner, having already eaten with Polly and Hal. There were plenty of leftovers though, as there usually was. Betty and Cheryl each took a seat at the kitchen table while Alice went about preparing them each a plate.

"Where're Dad and Polly?" Betty asked.

"Your Dad is at his bowling league," Alice replied. "I'm not sure where Polly went though."

"I guess I'll see her later," Betty said. "We bought dresses for junior prom today."

"Oh that's nice," Alice said. "I remember my junior prom quite well. It was your father and I's first date."

She finished serving up the leftovers and set down a plate in front of both Betty and Cheryl.

"This is different, what is it?" Betty asked poking at the meat with her fork.

"Rabbit," Alice replied. "I felt like trying something new. A lot of little bones though in such a small amount of meat, I don't know if I'll make it again."

"It's pretty good," Cheryl commented as she took a bite. "I like it."

"Well thanks," Alice said as she sat down at the table. "So I saw on the news you've got powers now too. Betty mentioned it but she was a little scarce on the details."

Cheryl smiled as she glanced over at Betty.

"What? It's your story to tell," Betty said with a shrug.

"Well," Cheryl began. "It all started when I was in Greece…"

* * *

The armoured transport vehicle rumbled along the I-87 northbound carrying its prisoner from Riverdale bound for Arkham Asylum in Gotham. It was quite late and this stretch was near the small town of Poughkeepsie when the female driver, Doreen, spotted a yellow streak blur past along the shoulder.

"What hell?" she muttered rubbing her eyes thinking she had just seen something.

Doreen continued along for a short while before she saw something in her headlights. It looked like a person dressed all in yellow standing in the middle of the road. She hit the horn but the person didn't move so she changed lanes but the person stepped into her new lane. Doreen slammed on the brakes but she was so close and going so quickly that she was certain that she was going to hit the person. As the truck got closer Doreen thought that the person looked to be a young woman who was smiling at her.

Suddenly just a half second before the truck was about to slam into her, the young woman in yellow suddenly vanished in a yellow blur. The truck skidded to a stop and Doreen sat behind the wheel breathing heavily wondering what just happened. Just then her walkie-talkie crackled to life.

"What's going on?" came the voice of her partner Lorrie.

Lorrie was currently locked in the back with their prisoner.

"There was something on the road just now," Doreen responded. "I'm going to check it out, it will just be a minute."

Doreen unbuckled her seatbelt and climbed out of the truck and looked around. She looked around but couldn't see any sign of the girl in yellow. She heard whoosh behind her, her hand instinctively reached for her Taser as she spun around. She saw a young man dressed all in yellow including a hood that hid most of his face. Doreen went to point her Taser at him but all of a sudden the Taser was in his hand pointed at her and he had a smirk on his face. Doreen had no idea what had happened.

"It's not nice to point these things at people," the young man said.

He threw the Taser aside somewhere into the darkness off to the side of the highway.

"What… what are you doing?" Doreen stammered nervously.

"Well clearly I'm here to spring the passenger that you're transporting," the young man said. "And of course my boss said not to leave any witness, so…"

He raised his hand and Doreen watched as it began to blur as if it were vibrating extremely quickly. Before she could do or say anything he plunged his hand into her chest. Doreen froze as she could feel his hand on her heart. Suddenly he pulled his hand out and her heart came with it, yet there was no wound in her chest. Doreen stared in disbelief at her own heart before she dropped to the ground dead.

"Doreen! Doreen!" Doreen's walkie-talkie crackled as Lorrie from inside the truck tried to contact her.

"Are you done Daniel?" a girl dressed similarly all in yellow like the young man asked.

"She's dead isn't she Iris?" Daniel responded holding up the heart. "Now why don't you go get the prisoner so we can get out of here?"

Iris walked around to back of the truck and grabbed a hold of the door. She began shaking incredibly rapidly and the doors began to rattle and groan. Suddenly the hinges of the doors just snapped and the doors fell of the truck.

Inside an extremely nervous Lorrie had her sidearm out and she immediately fired at Iris. However Iris moved with speed so quick that Lorrie couldn't even see it and dodged the bullets. She gave Lorrie a quick smiled and then in the blink of an eye was standing behind Lorrie her arm emerging from Lorrie's chest.

Iris then turned towards the prisoner who was shackled by her wrists and ankles to the floor of the truck, Midge. Midge stared up blankly at the strange girl dressed in yellow.

"Who are you? What do you want?" Midge asked nervously.

"My boss wants you," Iris replied. "But I've heard that you can be a little… rambunctious."

Iris slapped Midge in the face several times with super speed knocking her unconscious. She then set about breaking apart the shackles.

"She's out Daniel you can come in," Iris called.

Daniel appeared almost instantly beside his sister.

"What do you think Miss Lodge wants with her?" Daniel asked.

"It's Mrs. Lodge-Lord now remember," Iris reminded him. "And who cares, we owe her for this. Now give me a hand."

Daniel and Iris both picked up Midge, Iris holding her feet and Daniel holding her under the arms. The two of them then sped off at impossible speed leaving the truck abandoned in the middle of the highway.

* * *

Betty awoke to the sound of her phone playing the generic music she had assigned as her ring tone. She glanced over at the window and saw that the sun was barely up over the horizon.

"Oh come on," Betty grumbled annoyed at how early she was being woken up.

She reached over and grabbed her phone and answered.

"What is it?" Betty asked her voice gravelly.

"Betty you need to come out to the farm now," came Tim's panic stricken voice from the other end. "It's, it's Cheryl."

Betty quickly sprang from her bed and with super speed grabbed some clothes and put them on and then ran out of the house and all the way to the farm arriving just ten seconds later. She saw Tim running up the driveway looking frightened and she quickly ran over to him.

"Tim what's wrong?" Betty asked.

Tim took a few quick breaths as he glanced back towards the barn. Then Betty suddenly felt the whole ground shake.

"What the heck was that?" Betty asked.

"Cheryl," Tim replied as he tried to catch his breath.

Betty didn't need to hear anymore. She ran to the barn to see Cheryl standing in the middle of the barn pounding her fist into the ground angrily.

"No! No! No!" Cheryl screamed.

Each time Cheryl's fist hit the ground Betty could feel it shake. The amount of strength behind each blow was amazing and frightening. Betty was worried that the barn was about to collapse from minor earthquakes that Cheryl was causing.

"Cheryl stop!" Betty shouted as she approached Cheryl.

"Gah!" Cheryl yelled as she lashed out and punched Betty square in the gut.

Betty was so caught off guard she was unable to avoid it. She went flying out of the barn at such velocity she would have smashed right through the door if it had been closed. She hit the ground about thirty feet away from the barn and tumbled and rolled for another fifty feet before she came to a stop.

As Betty picked herself up Tim came running over.

"Are you alright?" he asked her with concern.

"The only thing bruised is my pride," Betty replied.

Just then Cheryl emerged from the barn a worried look on her face.

"Oh my god, Betty!" she exclaimed as she ran over towards Betty and Tim. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Betty replied as she brushed dirt off of herself. "Can't quite say the same about my outfit though."

"I'll get you another one," Cheryl said.

"No don't worry about it," Betty said waving her off. "But what had you so upset?"

"Midge escaped," Tim replied. "Or rather somebody helped her escape."

"What? How's that possible?" Betty asked.

"I don't know," Tim replied with a shrug. "Maybe she somehow got to somebody when she was at the police station."

"Do you think maybe it was Hiram?" Betty suggested. "I mean he turned into a demon once… for whatever reason."

"I don't think so," Tim said.

"Why?" Betty asked.

"I'll show you," Tim said. "Hopefully Cheryl didn't wreck the computers up in the loft with her temper tantrum."

The three of them made their way back into the barn. Farming equipment that had been hanging on the walls had fallen off; and when they went up into the loft the couches and chairs had all shifted about and a large shelving unit that had board games and books had fallen over. But when Tim checked the computers he found they were undamaged just a few of the cables had been disconnected. He quickly set about fixing the computers while Betty and Cheryl straightened up.

"Are you okay?" Betty asked Cheryl as the two of them were putting the furniture back.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Cheryl asked as she carried one of the couches back to its spot with just one hand.

"You already did, and I said I was fine, because I am," Betty replied, before asking, "But obviously you're upset."

"I don't know, I just… with finding out about my parentage, and then learning Midge is loose once more, and… well I've just had so much frustration and anger, I had to let it out somehow," Cheryl answered.

"I get it," Betty said as she lifted up the shelving unit with ease and began putting everything back on the shelves.

"Alright I've got it back up," Tim called from over at the computers.

Betty and Cheryl made their way over to see what he'd found.

"So I had my… friend help me get some access to various agencies security feeds et cetera," Tim said. "But nothing found Hiram. However one thing I did do was put a flag on any private airplanes he owned in case one of them made a flight. And one of them did."

"So… he's fleeing the country?" Betty asked confused.

"Well that's where it gets strange," Tim replied. "I've got the plane leaving Newark about three hours ago, it filed a flight plan to head up north along the coast to Gotham. But if that were the case the plane should have already arrived over an hour ago. However there's no records of it landing in Gotham or any of the surrounding airports."

"But he could have landed on like a small strip somewhere maybe?" Cheryl suggested. "Like a private airstrip on some other rich guys property?"

"I thought of that, so I checked out the radar data and this is the really bizarre part," Tim said. "The plane headed up the coast like normal, no issues. Then all of a sudden about half way there it suddenly just turns and heads on an east southeast direction out over the Atlantic. Then ten minutes later it vanishes off the radar."

"Was it out of range?" Betty asked.

"No it should have still been in range for at least another twenty minutes," Tim replied. "Now it's possible that what happened was the transponder was turned off, however the plane would have still been showing up on primary radar but it would just be a blip no idea what it is. And those feeds are military harder to get. But this all just happened, and I haven't been able to get anything on any contact from air traffic control. But I don't see how they wouldn't have noticed this."

"Seems kind of like that Malaysian Air flight that disappeared over the Indian Ocean," Cheryl pointed out.

"Do you think the plane crashed?" Betty asked.

"It was a customized Airbus A318," Tim replied. "I don't have the specs for this plane but with a full fuel load it has a range of about 3600 miles. It might have made it to Africa, with where it was Casablanca would have been right on the edge of its fuel range."

"So perhaps the greatest enemy we've faced is loose with who knows what powers and the aid of who knows who. And then Hiram Lodge who's planning on turning himself into one of the most powerful demons of all time has disappeared likely to Africa? Great we're doing real good with this hero thing," Betty said.

"I've done what I can," Tim said in an apologetic tone. "But some things are just out of our hands."

Betty let out a frustrated sigh and then sat down on one of the couches. Cheryl sat beside her and put a comforting arm over her shoulder.

"Hey it's going to be alright," Cheryl said. "If there's one thing about Midge she won't stay hidden for long and I'm pretty sure if Hiram is missing for just another day the whole world will start looking for him for us."

"You're probably right," Betty agreed.

"So, how about we go figure out what I'm going to wear to my first day back at school?" Cheryl suggested.

Betty and Tim could only laugh.

* * *

 _Is Hiram dead? Well that wouldn't make sense would it? And the return of the West Twins working with Veronica, but what does Veronica want with Midge? Hmm..._

 _Some things will be explained soon, others later. Please review!_


	54. Chapter 52

**Chapter 52**

* * *

"The search for Hiram Lodge continues," said Anderson Cooper as the TV showed an image of a ship slowly travelling through the water. "The billionaire owner of Lodge Corp vanished last Thursday morning at around 5 a.m. from radar. No radio contact was made with air traffic controllers. And speculation continues to run rampant about whether this was an accident, an assassination or something else."

Betty, who was sitting on the couch, shook her head and sighed as she took another bite of cereal.

"I can't believe CNN is still running with this as their main story," Polly commented from where she was seated beside Betty.

"I know, right?" Betty agreed. "I mean he's been missing for four days now. I'm surprised that nobody has seen him somewhere else because there is no way he is dead."

"Are you really sure that he's trying to become this Trigon demon?" Polly asked.

"Trigon is the name of the demon, you're saying it likes it's a type of demon," Betty corrected her. "And Sabrina is certain and I trust her on this."

Just then the doorbell rang.

"That's Jughead," Betty said getting up.

She quickly finished her cereal, sped to the kitchen and put her bowl in the sink and then answered the front door; all in the span of five seconds.

"Hey Jughead, what's up?" Betty greeted him.

"Ready to go to school?" Jughead asked.

"Yep just one second," Betty said.

She quickly sped up stairs and reappeared a second later wearing a pair of wire half-frame glasses.

"What's with the glasses?" Jughead asked.

"Well one day I'm going to end up revealing myself to the public," Betty replied. "I figure if people always see me wearing these they won't immediately figure out who I am."

"That's the stupidest attempt at a disguise ever," Jughead said. "At least wear the glasses with the fake moustache."

Betty smacked his shoulder just hard enough for it to hurt.

"I'm serious here," Betty said. "I'd like to somehow maintain some kind of anonymity."

"Whatever," Jughead said rubbing his shoulder.

"Come on let's get to school," Betty said.

"Have fun you two," Polly called out.

The two headed outside and as they reached the end of the driveway they saw Dilton approaching. The two stopped to wait for him.

"Hey Dilton how was your vacation?" Betty inquired.

"It was alright," Dilton replied. "But clearly not as exciting as what was going on here."

"I'm not sure exciting is the word I would use to describe it," Betty said.

"So what's up with the glasses?" Dilton asked.

"It's a new look she's trying," Jughead replied somewhat sarcastically.

"I like it," Dilton said. "I think it makes her look dignified."

"Hear that Jughead, it makes me look dignified," Betty said as she held her nose up in the air.

"I didn't realize dignified was a synonym for like a tool," Jughead joked.

Betty smacked him again, this time on the other shoulder.

"Ow!" Jughead exclaimed.

"You brought it on yourself," Betty stated coolly as Dilton chuckled.

The three of them made their way towards school coming to a stop at Sheila's house. Sheila came bounding out the front door to join them.

"Hey guys!" she exclaimed, then she noticed Betty's glasses. "What's with eyewear Betty?"

"I'm trying something out," Betty answered.

"Well I think it looks good on you," Sheila said. "Smart choice going with the half-frames."

"Thanks," Betty said with a glance at Jughead who was still gingerly rubbing his shoulder.

They continued along on their way to school.

"So was Cheryl going to meet up with us?" Jughead asked.

"No, she was coming here straight from the farm." Betty replied.

"She's still staying out there?" Sheila asked.

"Yeah she's still not on speaking terms with her parents," Betty replied.

"This day is going to be so weird," Dilton commented. "I missed so much when I was away."

"You can say that again," Jughead agreed. "Hey what about Tim or Barry?"

"Tim's always doing his own thing," Betty said. "I think with Hiram out of the picture his… acquaintance wants him to return to Gotham. But Tim seems to think that Hiram going to turn back up here in Riverdale eventually."

"Did he say why?" Sheila asked.

"Just a gut feeling," Betty replied. "But Sabrina says that he might be right. Riverdale has become a nexus for interplanar incursions because of the demon attacks recently. So he could return here if he tries to summon a demon army."

"Well that's a comforting thought, we're ground zero for hell literally breaking loose," Jughead said.

They arrived at the school, there quite a few students gathered about in small groups outside. As they made their way in Betty noticed the cheerleaders talking and she saw Ginger giving their group a glare as they walked past.

"What was that about?" Dilton asked noticing it as well.

"Oh just some silly incident at the mall the other day," Sheila replied. "You know girl stuff."

Dilton glanced at Jughead who shrugged and neither decided to press the issue further.

They made their way inside and were heading to their lockers when they heard a commotion coming from outside.

"It's her! It's her!" a Japanese-American girl named Tomoko shouted loudly and excitedly.

The group made their way back to the front entrance just in time to see Cheryl gracefully drop down from the sky and land. She was almost immediately surrounded by a mob of excited students. She was dressed in a simple purple one shoulder top, and jeans but somehow on her it looked like high-end fashion.

"Alright all of you get to your classes!" shouted Principal Weatherbee.

The crowd quickly scattered leaving Cheryl alone as she was confronted by the Principal.

"Miss Blossom you've been absent for quite some time would you care to explain yourself?" Weatherbee asked.

"Well I spent a great deal of time in Greece studying history there, I can write you a report if you'd like," Cheryl replied.

"Are you trying to be funny Miss Blossom?" Weatherbee asked disbelieving.

"Not all," Cheryl replied.

"Then you'll be giving that report to me personally," Weatherbee said sternly. "And I expect it by the end of the week."

"Okay," Cheryl agreed and then she walked past him and into the school.

She entered the school and saw Betty and the others all watching and was about to approach them when she was intercepted by Reggie Mantle.

"Hey babe, what's up?" Reggie asked.

Cheryl's eyes narrowed.

"Reggie," she responded.

"Why so cold? Do you not remember all the good times we had together?" Reggie asked with a smirk.

"Can't say that I do," Cheryl answered. "So they couldn't have been that good."

"Aw you're just playing with me," Reggie said. "Let me give you a reminder."

He leaned in and planted a kiss on Cheryl's lips. The kiss lasted for just a split second however before Reggie suddenly found himself being held in the air with Cheryl's hand around his throat.

"That wasn't very good," Cheryl said her face frighteningly calm. "And don't you ever try that again, with me or any other girl who doesn't want it, or the next time my hand is around your throat I'll squeeze it shut."

She gave a slight squeeze and Reggie let out a gagging noise before Cheryl suddenly released him and dropped him to the ground.

"Did I make myself clear?" Cheryl asked.

"Crystal," Reggie replied as he coughed.

Just then Mr. Weatherbee came over.

"Miss Blossom, my office now!" he ordered.

Cheryl shot Betty and the others a bit of a smirk, clearly pleased with how she had dealt with Reggie before following Weatherbee to his office.

"That was awesome," Jughead commented. "I am so glad to see somebody finally put Reggie in his place."

"I… I…" Sheila stammered.

Sheila still harboured a big crush on Reggie, but after seeing what Cheryl had just done wasn't entirely sure what to think.

"Oh come on Sheila, there're plenty of other boys out there," Betty said.

"I guess you're right," Sheila agreed half-heartedly.

"Where's Barry or Tim?" Dilton asked.

"I'm sure Tim's around here somewhere," Jughead replied. "As for Barry, I don't know. You'd think he'd be here by now."

Just then Barry came jogging through the front doors as if on cue.

"Hey guys," Barry greeted them.

"Hi Barry, you missed Cheryl's grand return," Sheila said.

"That wasn't really the best part," Jughead said. "But what she did to Reggie; she put him in his place."

"Oh?" Barry inquired with an arched eyebrow.

"Well she's in Weatherbee's office right now," Betty said.

"I'm sure she'll be fine," Barry said. "Weatherbee is all bark and no bite."

"Well come on guys, let's get to class," Dilton said.

* * *

It was about ten minutes into English class with Miss Grundy who was teaching the class about the proper use of the semi-colon. There was a knock on the door and Grundy stopped her lesson to answer it. Outside were Cheryl and Principal Weatherbee. Grundy and Weatherbee exchanged a few quiet words before he left. Grundy then stepped aside to let Cheryl into the room.

"Please take a seat Miss Blossom," Grundy said. "Hopefully one of your classmates can catch you up on the proper use of semi-colons."

Cheryl made her way and stopped at the desk behind Betty which was currently occupied by a boy named Sayid.

"Can I sit here?" Cheryl asked him.

Sayid looked around nervously and then he got up and moved to an empty desk. Cheryl got a few looks from the class as well as Grundy as she sat down.

"Word of what you did to Reggie has already spread around the school," Betty whispered without looking back.

Cheryl grinned at that.

"Good, he deserved it that pig," Cheryl muttered.

"You girls be quiet," Grundy snapped. "You can all gossip after school."

Grundy then started into her lesson once more.

* * *

Midge awoke and looked around. Once more she was in a cell, but this time she didn't know where it was, or who her captor was. The last thing she remembered was some girl dressed all in yellow slapping her unconscious with super speed.

"Finally you're awake," she heard a woman say.

Midge looked towards the one wall of her cell. It was made of glass or more likely some kind of hard clear polycarbonate like Lexan. Standing on the other side was a woman she immediately recognized as Veronica Lodge. On one side of Veronica was the girl dressed in yellow while on the other side was a young man dressed in a similar outfit.

Midge got up off of the cot she was on and walked over towards them placing her hands on the glass.

"Why are you holding me captive? What do you want with me?" Midge demanded angrily.

"Now, now," Veronica said. "I helped save you from being condemned to Arkham Asylum, where they were going to lock you up and throw away the key never to be seen again."

Midge took a step back and gave a wry smile.

"I don't really see how trading one cell for another one can be considered helping," Midge said sarcastically.

"You misunderstand," Veronica said. "I merely want to help you. I just needed you some place contained and private so we could discuss things. You do have a bit of reputation for killing people."

"Fair enough," Midge admitted with a twinge of pride at that fact.

"I believe that we can both help each other," Veronica said. "I'm sure you're not entirely pleased with your current appearance."

Midge said nothing but gave just the slightest of nods.

"I've been studying your father's research for a while now," Veronica said. "And while there was nothing on the formula that he gave you since you killed him before he could leave any notes, I believe I know what he did."

"Yeah and what does that have to do with helping me?" Midge asked.

"Well with a bit of time I know that I can find a way to fix your appearance, perhaps even enhance it and your powers," Veronica replied with a confident smile.

"And what makes you so sure?" Midge asked doubtfully.

"I'm responsible for the powers my associates here now have," Veronica said indicating the two yellow clad strangers on either side of her.

Midge didn't have to even move her head to focus on either of Veronica's "associates".

"Well I'm sure that you're not doing this out of the goodness of your heart, you are a Lodge after all," Midge said. "So what do you want from me?"

"Hmm yes, but its Lodge-Lord now," Veronica said showing a wedding ring on her finger.

"Congratulations," Midge said somewhat insincerely.

"I want you to work for me," Veronica stated. "I can make use of your talents and abilities."

"I'm sure you could," Midge said. "But just what are you up to?"

"Now, now, it wouldn't be prudent if I were to reveal all my plans to you now," Veronica replied. "But I will say that I'm looking to assemble a team of people like yourself and my associates with abilities."

"I'm sure you're aware I don't play well with others," Midge said.

"I'm aware," Veronica admitted. "And I'm sure you're aware that I'm not an idiot. If I don't think you can prove useful then I'll just dispose of you."

Midge didn't like the way that Veronica phrased that, being disposed of made it sound as though she was garbage.

"You would do well to work for Miss Lodge-Lord," the girl in yellow said.

"Oh and what exactly has she promised you?" Midge asked.

"She's given me the power to exact my revenge," the girl replied.

Midge stepped away from the glass wall and turned her back on the others to consider for a moment. She didn't like the idea of working for somebody else, but she didn't really have much of a choice either.

"Alright," Midge agreed as she turned around. "I'll work for you, at least for now."

Veronica smiled.

"I'm glad to hear it," Veronica said. "You just sit down and I'll see to getting you moved to some nicer quarters."

Veronica then turned and motioned for Daniel and Iris to follow her. As she left Veronica smiled to herself. First her father's disappearance and now this, things were starting to go her way.

* * *

 _Just what is Veronica up to? And where is Hiram now? Will I answers these in the next chapter? Only one way to find out. Please review._


	55. Chapter 53

**Chapter 53**

* * *

It was Junior Prom Night. Betty was upstairs in her bedroom, her sister Polly helping her style her hair. They had tried a bunch of different styles but neither of them had like either.

"I say just wear your hair down," Polly said as she stood behind her taller younger sister and brushed Betty's hair. "After all the braiding and everything we've done it's got a nice wave to it right now."

"Yeah I think you're right," Betty agreed.

"I love this dress by the way," Polly said. "Good choice. Yellow is definitely a good colour on you. Although I really liked that blue dress."

Betty's dress was yellow with sheer lace covering her shoulders and mid-section; the skirt was pleated and trailed down to the floor.

"Thanks although you should see the one that Cheryl got," Betty said.

"I can just imagine with that girl," Polly said before asking, "So you don't have a date though?"

"Well we ended up deciding to go as group," Betty replied.

"Yeah but who are you going to dance with?" Polly asked.

"I don't know, I can probably talk one of the boys into dancing with me," Betty answered.

"Yeah, but it's not the same as having an actual date to dance with," Polly said.

Betty shrugged as she turned around.

"Look we decided to go kind of late," Betty said. "I mean most people that are going had gotten dates almost a month ago."

Just then the doorbell rang.

"Oh that must be my friends," Betty said.

She left the room and made her way downstairs followed by Polly. Their mother had already answered and Tim and Jughead were standing just outside. Tim was dressed in a perfectly fitting black tuxedo with a matching black bowtie, while Jughead was wearing a green plaid suit with a purple tie. As always he was wearing his crown beanie.

"Really Jughead, really?" Polly asked shaking her head.

"What? It's the only suit I own," Jughead responded.

"Well I think you look handsome in," Alice commented.

"Thank you Mrs. Cooper," Jughead said.

"Now Tim, I can't say I know you well, but I can tell that you know how to dress," Polly stated.

"The man I work for has taught me a lot of things," Tim said with a slight smile.

"Well come on let's get going," Betty said. "We need to pick up the others."

She stepped outside and Tim and Jughead followed. A limousine was waiting at the curb near the end of the driveway.

"Have fun!" Alice called.

Betty turned back and waved to her mother and sister. When she reached the car Tim opened the door to let her in. Betty climbed in and saw that Cheryl was already in the limousine and was drinking the complimentary champagne, despite the fact she was underage. Cheryl was wearing the dress she had bought the other day. It was green and was almost like a piece of fabric draped across her chest and then hugging her tightly from the hips down with an almost completely open back.

"Champagne Betty?" Cheryl offered holding out the bottle.

"No thanks," Betty replied.

Cheryl looked to Tim and Jughead who both shook their heads no as well. Cheryl shrugged and then began drinking straight from the bottle instead of bothering to pour it into the champagne flute.

The limousine drove around the corner coming to a stop at Sheila's house. Tim and Jughead both got out once again to get Sheila leaving Betty in the car with Cheryl, who was still chugging champagne.

"Are you sure you should be drinking all that?" Betty asked.

"It free," Cheryl replied with a shrug. "And this stuff barely does anything for me anymore. I need to drink this much to feel a buzz now."

Because of all the reading on biology she'd been doing Betty's mind immediately began wondering why that would be. Cheryl's powers came from the magical armour that she'd found, but even Cheryl wasn't entirely sure how it worked. Betty wondered if the armour also protected Cheryl from poison and perhaps it saw alcohol as a poison. As she watched Cheryl take another big swig Betty decided that tonight probably wasn't the best time to bring that up to Cheryl though.

Soon Tim and Jughead returned to the limousine with Sheila. Sheila got in first and took a seat next to Betty before Tim and Jughead got in and sat in the back. Sheila was wearing a short pink dress that kind of made her look like a Disney fairy princess.

"Dilton didn't want to come?" Sheila asked noticing he wasn't present.

"He's our friend, but the rest of the school, well not so much," Jughead replied. "Besides these dances aren't really his thing. And I think he said something about his app too."

"So just Barry left to pick up?" Betty asked.

"Yeah," Tim replied. "I figured we pick him up last because he's always ready at the last minute."

"And he lives closest to the school," Jughead added.

The limousine drove on making its way through the streets of Riverdale till it came to a stop outside of Barry's house. When they stopped Tim was the only one that got out and went up to the door. He returned moments later along with Barry. Barry was wearing a black suit with a red tie.

"Hi everyone," Barry said as he climbed into the limousine.

Cheryl offered him the last of the champagne but Barry shook his head no and Cheryl promptly finished the bottle off. The limousine pulled away from the curb and made its way to its final destination, Riverdale High. It came to stop outside the school and the driver got out and opened the door to let them all out. They gathered together just outside the limousine before going in.

"Thanks for coming down and doing this Alfred," Tim said to the driver.

"Not a problem Master Drake," the driver replied, speaking with a British accent. "What time shall I pick you up?"

"You don't have to do that Alfred," Tim said. "You should probably head back home anyway."

"Very well Master Drake," Alfred said.

Alfred climbed back into the limousine and drove off.

"Master Drake?" Jughead asked.

"He's Br… my mentor's butler," Tim replied. "Come on let's go inside."

They made their way into the school and to the gymnasium where the dance was being held. Just inside one of their classmates Raj Patel, a short Indian boy, was taking pictures as people arrived.

"Okay who is with who?" Raj asked.

"Um we're here as a group," Betty answered.

"Oh, okay well that's fine," Raj said. "All of you just group together for the picture and say Cheese!"

N one of them said cheese but they all smiled and Raj snapped the picture then checked it on the digital display.

"Okay that looks good, that'll probably makes its way into the yearbook," Raj commented. "Have fun you guys."

They went to go into the dance but Cheryl grabbed Betty by the arm stopping her.

"Cheryl?" Betty asked. "What's going…?"

She was cut off as Cheryl planted a kiss firmly on Betty's lips as she pulled Betty closer. Betty was surprised and felt her face go red with embarrassment but she didn't resist. There was a flash and Betty realized that Raj had taken a picture of the whole scene. Finally Cheryl broke the kiss off and took a step back.

Betty looked around to see that just about everybody was staring at them and she was suddenly extremely embarrassed.

"Betty I…" Cheryl started to say.

However Betty quickly left the gymnasium. Cheryl went to go after her but she was cut off by Jughead and Sheila.

"Leave her," Jughead said.

"No, I need to explain," Cheryl said as she forced her way past Jughead and out of the gymnasium.

"I'll handle this," Sheila said to Jughead. "You should probably talk to Barry."

They both looked over at Barry who had a shocked and hurt expression on his face from what he had just witnessed. Jughead nodded in agreement and went over to Barry while Sheila followed after Betty and Cheryl.

* * *

Sheila tracked Betty and Cheryl to the girls' bathroom just down the hallway from the gymnasium. Cheryl was standing outside one of the stalls which Sheila assumed Betty was in.

"Betty please come out," Cheryl pleaded.

"Go away," Betty responded.

Sheila walked over to Cheryl.

"Let me handle this," Sheila said softly.

Cheryl had a look of concern on her face but she nodded and walked back over to the door but stayed in the bathroom. Sheila took a deep breath and then knocked on the stall door.

"Betty, can you open the door?" Sheila asked.

There was a long moment of silence and the slowly the stall door creaked open. Betty was standing on the other side. Her eyes were clearly red from crying.

"Are you alright?" Sheila inquired.

"Not really," Betty replied with a sniff.

"Why's that?" Sheila asked. "It was just a kiss."

"I… I don't know," Betty stammered. "It was just… it was so embarrassing."

"Really? What was so embarrassing about it?" Sheila asked. "Two of the hottest girls at school kissing each other? I mean I wish I could have been in your place."

Betty gave a single chuckle but said nothing.

"If you're perfectly honest with yourself, the thing that made it so embarrassing was your reaction," Sheila said. "If you hadn't run off, if you had just owned it… well the rest of the school would have been so jealous."

"I guess, maybe, I don't know," Betty said.

"Why did you run off?" Cheryl asked from over by the door.

Betty was quiet for a moment although she knew why.

"Because it reminded me of my first kiss," Betty said.

"Why would it remind you of that?" Cheryl asked.

"Because her first kiss was with Jason," Sheila replied as she understood.

"Your kiss was just… it was like kissing him again," Betty added.

"Well I guess now it's my turn to be embarrassed," Cheryl said. "Because the reason it was so much like kissing Jason is because the two of us used to practice kissing with each other."

"Are you serious?" Sheila squealed far too excited by this revelation.

"Yes, and you can't tell anyone else about this," Cheryl warned her.

Sheila then heard a noise from Betty. She turned around to see Betty shaking

"Betty, are you crying again?" Sheila asked.

Betty shook her head and then burst out laughing.

"Oh man this is so…" Betty said as she tried to stop laughing.

Sheila and Cheryl soon joined in on the laughter.

"Yeah it is kind of funny when you think about it," Cheryl agreed.

The three of them soon stopped laughing and Betty finally came out of the stall.

"Look I'm sorry about that," Cheryl apologized. "I spent quite a bit of time on an island with nothing but women so I think that affected me; and then all that champagne I drank…"

"It's alright," Betty cut her off. "Let's go back into the dance and own this."

The three girls left the bathroom to find Tim and Barry standing just outside in the hallway.

"I hope you two have worked out your issues because we've got a problem," Tim said.

"What is it?" Cheryl asked.

"Hiram turned up," Barry said.

"Where is he?" Betty asked worriedly.

"Nouadhibou, Mauritania," Tim replied.

Both Betty and Cheryl stared at him blankly.

"It's a city on Africa's west coast," Tim replied. "Pretty corrupt place not a lot of law enforcement. Turns out that's where his plane landed, the news just went up on the internet and I got an alert."

"What was he doing there?" Cheryl asked.

"No idea," Barry said. "I told Sabrina and she's going to check it out, but we might be needed over there immediately. She said to wait for her at the barn."

"Looks like your little kiss might have ended up being the perfect excuse for why we left the dance early," Tim noted.

* * *

Sabrina appeared at the Nouadhibou International Airport appearing on one of the taxiways. It was the middle of the night here and rather dark but as she looked around and saw Hiram Lodge's plane surrounded by members of the Mauritanian military who looked to be investigating it. Calmly Sabrina made her way over. As she got near she spotted by two of the soldiers who started shouting at her in Arabic.

"Tup lla eht sreidlos ni sisats," Sabrina cast.

Suddenly all of the soldiers froze where they were unable to move. Sabrina knew she needed to move quickly though, the stasis spell she had just cast would wear off in about fifteen minutes. Sabrina made her to the plane and after a quick look around the outside she climbed up the air stairs and boarded. However she was only about three steps in when she stopped in her tracks.

The smell of rotting flesh was extremely pungent and when Sabrina glanced into the cockpit she saw that the bodies of both the pilot and co-pilot were still strapped into their seats but they were quite decayed. It wasn't surprising given that they had been dead for over a week and left in the plane which probably reached inhumanely hot temperatures during the day. Holding her breath Sabrina entered the cockpit and to examine the corpses. She immediately recognized the prominent purple veins on their bodies.

"He's gathering his strength," Sabrina muttered to herself. "And this is the perfect place to do it."

Sabrina knew that she had to get back to Riverdale and get the others. She just hoped that it wasn't too late all ready.

"Tropelet em ot s'ytteB mraf," Sabrina cast.

Sabrina disappeared in a puff of smoke. Moments later all of the soldiers started moving again. The two soldiers that had been going to confront her both looked at each other wondering where the oddly dressed white girl had suddenly vanished to.

* * *

 _It looks like our heroes are making their way to Africa in the next chapter. But this certainly won't be a fun Safari. Will they be able to defeat Hiram? Please Review!_

 _Also new artwork for this chapter up on DeviantArt page: archie-fan . deviantart . com_


	56. Chapter 54

**Chapter 54**

* * *

Betty and her friends had all left the Junior Prom early and returned to Betty's farm. Cheryl's kiss had indeed proven to be the perfect excuse. However to avoid unwanted rumours Betty and Cheryl had both left separately, which wasn't a problem as Cheryl was able to literally fly away from the school while Betty left with Tim, Barry and the others.

They were all now gathered in the barn waiting on Sabrina who had asked to meet them here.

"Mauritania? Where is that located exactly?" Sheila asked.

"It's along the west coast of Africa south of Morocco," Barry replied.

Sheila just stared at him blankly.

"Really?" Tim asked as he shook his head in disbelief. "This is a serious condemnation of the American education system. Makes me glad I was homeschooled for so many years."

"You can look it up on Wikipedia Sheila," Betty said to her friend. "So why do you think he went to Mauritania?"

"Well as I said before it's a pretty corrupt place, not a lot of law enforcement so it would be a decent place to hide," Tim replied. "But Sabrina mentioned before that Hiram needs a lot of souls to properly resurrect Trigon. One thing that is readily available in Mauritania is human lives. Estimates are that as much as 4% of the population are slaves."

"Are you serious?" Cheryl asked in disbelief. "I don't know the population of that place but that's got to be at least in the tens of thousands."

"Worse it's estimated to be between one hundred and fifty thousand to two hundred thousand," Tim answered.

"Why would Hiram need slaves though?" Jughead asked.

"He doesn't need slaves," Barry answered. "He just needs souls. Buying slaves in a hopelessly corrupt place like that is an easy way to get those souls without attracting too much unwanted attention."

"Oh crap," Betty muttered. "We might be too late."

"We can't think like that," Tim said.

"If Trigon was beaten once he can be beaten again," Barry agreed.

Just then there was a whirl of smoke and Sabrina appeared down in the main part of the barn. She made her way up to the loft where the others were.

"What's the situation?" Betty asked.

"It's definitely him," Sabrina replied. "I checked out his plane and the pilot and co-pilot were onboard and dead, same purple veins as the butler. He's gathering his strength."

"And in a place like Mauritania where slavery still runs rampant souls are easy to come by," Barry said sombrely.

"This place sounds like it will be miserable," Cheryl commented.

"It says here that atheism is punishable by death," Sheila commented looking at her phone.

"Well I wouldn't say I'm atheist," Cheryl said. "I mean I've actually met a god."

"The country is also about three-quarters desert," Jughead said as he read over Sheila's phone. "So expect to get some sand in places you don't want sand."

The others all just shook their heads a little annoyed by Jughead's comment.

"Alright are you all ready to go?" Sabrina asked.

They all nodded and Sabrina was about to do a teleportation spell when suddenly there was a flash from behind them. They all turned to see a huge a huge fourteen foot tall red scaled demon with a lizard like face that had glowing yellow eyes and large black horns and bat like wings that was holding a huge thick bladed sword.

"Shit he's attacking us already," Cheryl said.

Cheryl vaulted down and Betty wasn't far behind her.

"Wait," Sabrina called.

Cheryl and Betty stopped in their tracks and looked up. Sabrina jumped over the railing herself but she slowly floated down to the ground. Very calmly she walked up to the demon.

"Gazra, what are you doing here?" Sabrina asked. "Did my mother send you?"

"Did she just say her mother?" Cheryl whispered to Betty.

Betty nodded but said nothing watching with interest and confusion.

"Lady Fierna said to give you this," the huge demon said, it's voice so deep that they all felt a rumbling sensation when it spoke.

The beast held out its hand to give Sabrina a black curved and serrated dagger with a silver hilt. Sabrina didn't accept it instead she just stared at it intently.

"Really, why would I want this?" Sabrina asked.

"She says this will allow you to defeat the resurrected Trigon," Gazra responded.

"Yeah, and she's just giving me this out of motherly love right?" Sabrina asked sarcastically.

"You cannot defeat him without assistance," Gazra said. "I doubt you could defeat me."

"I'm pretty sure we could," Cheryl said as she balled one hand into a fist and rubbed it with the other.

Sabrina reached out and took the dagger, grabbing it by the blade with her gloved hand. She held it up and examined it.

"Leave Gazra, or I'll banish you back to Hell," Sabrina threatened.

The enormous demon looked down at her and gave a snort before it suddenly vanished in a gout of purple coloured flames.

"Alright Sabrina, what the hell was that about? Your mother?" Cheryl asked the moment the demon was gone.

Sabrina looked up at Barry who simply shrugged and smiled. Sabrina let out a resigned sigh.

"My mother isn't dead as you may have been lead to believe," Sabrina said. "What happened to her was that she was used a vessel to revive the demoness Fierna, the daughter of Belial who had been Trigon's right-hand man and had been instrumental in Trigon's first defeat."

"Okay why are we just learning this stuff now?" Sheila asked.

"It doesn't really change the situation," Sabrina said.

"That demon, Garza," Betty said.

"Gazra," Sabrina corrected her.

"Whatever, he just gave you a weapon that can defeat Trigon," Betty said. "I think that's changing the situation."

"This? We don't want to use this," Sabrina said holding up the dagger.

"Why not?" Tim asked.

"Because while this might help us now, it will cause other problems further down the road," Sabrina replied.

"What do you mean?" Cheryl demanded.

"This dagger is enchanted," Sabrina answered. "It's designed to sap Trigon's demonic power and store it. And I'm pretty sure that once it's taken enough power it's designed to teleport itself back to Fierna."

"Can't you, I don't know, remove the enchantment?" Barry suggested.

"It's not that simple," Sabrina said. "The dagger was crafted with the enchantment which means that's it's warded against tampering. I could try but with such things… they can end up backfiring rather spectacularly."

"Let's just take it with us," Betty said. "We will only use it if we have no other choice."

Sabrina scowled but nodded and tucked the dagger into a pocket on the inside of her jacket.

"Okay let's try this again," Sabrina said holding out her hands.

The others all gathered around her once more and this time they teleported out of the barn leaving Jughead and Sheila behind.

"Do you think they can win?" Sheila asked Jughead.

"We have to believe they can," Jughead replied.

Sheila nodded, but inwardly she was quite worried.

* * *

Betty, Cheryl, Sabrina, Tim and Barry all appeared in Nouadhibou much to the surprise of a couple of locals who quickly ran off.

"Okay what do we do first?" Barry asked.

"Well, Hiram has warded himself against magical tracking," Sabrina said. "But without a doubt he's left a trail of bodies to try and rebuild Trigon's power. We just need to follow the bodies."

"Okay and how do we do that?" Cheryl asked.

Cheryl reached up one of her sleeves and pulled out her wand.

"I thought you didn't need to use that," Tim said.

"This spell requires a focus," Sabrina replied. "My wand is as good a focus as any."

The others just shrugged and nodded, their understanding of magic was pretty rudimentary. As they watched Sabrina held out her wand in front of her.

"Revelabit mortuis," Sabrina said.

Suddenly the tip of her wand began to glow faintly.

"Was that Latin?" Tim asked. "Reveal the dead?"

Sabrina nodded.

"That's from the witch-blood on my mother's side," Sabrina explained. "Many of their spells are in Latin."

"Okay so now what?" Betty asked.

Sabrina slowly turned in a circle holding her wand in front of her. She stopped when the tip began to glow a little brighter.

"This way," Sabrina said.

Sabrina led the way with the others following her. They made their way through the arid deserted streets of Nouadhibou. They found they were gradually making their way east until they took a turn slightly south until they came to a four way intersection where they stopped.

"What the heck?" Sabrina muttered looking at her wand.

The tip was flickering from very bright to dim regardless of where she pointed it.

"Something's not right," Sabrina said as she shook her wand as if that was going to fix whatever was wrong.

"Um, yeah you can say that again," Barry said.

Everyone looked up to see that from all four sides of the intersection, men dressed in Mauritanian military uniforms. They were all armed with AK-47s or some derivative of them and as the soldiers approached Betty and the others noticed that the soldiers' eyes all seemed to be glowing yellow.

"Oh no," Sabrina muttered.

"What is it?" Cheryl asked.

"They're being controlled," Sabrina replied.

"Can you break it?" Tim asked.

Sabrina shook her head.

"No that would take a powerful psychic," Sabrina answered. "And unfortunately that's not me. These men have willingly allowed themselves to be controlled."

"By Hiram?" Barry asked.

Just then the group of men to the east stepped aside to allow a man to approach. He looked to be wearing an officer's uniform that identified him a Colonel. However the disturbing part was that his skin looked to be a reddish tinge, and even more disturbing was that above his eyes (which were also glowing yellow) was a second set of eyes giving him four.

"I would say by him," Sabrina said.

" Leave Or Be Killed In The Name Of Lord Hiram," the colonel said in some strange language that none of them understood.

"Um, did any of you understand that?" Cheryl asked.

"That's not Arabic or any language native to these parts," Tim replied.

"It's kind of similar to a demonic tongue," Sabrina said. "But I'm not familiar with it."

" Death To The Infidels, Kill Them In The Name Of Lord Hiram, !" the colonel shouted.

Suddenly all of the soldiers raised their weapons and opened fire.

"Look out!" Betty shouted.

She quickly moved to protect Sabrina and Tim, as did Cheryl. Bullets bounced off of their bodies and Sabrina and Tim sheltered behind them as best they could. Barry meanwhile took off as fast as he could, easily dodging the bullets. He began disarming soldiers and knocking them out.

"We need to do something," Cheryl said to Betty. "Or Sabrina and Tim will be hit."

Betty grit her teeth. She didn't want to do this, but she wasn't being given a choice. She unleashed a blast of her heat vision and literally incinerated one of the group of soldiers to the south, reducing them to little more than bits of ash.

The other soldiers seemed completely indifferent to the fact that their colleagues had just been essentially disintegrated. They continued to fire seemingly solely focused on killing Betty and her friends and didn't seem too care that their weapons were having no effect.

Meanwhile Barry had managed to disarm and disable the group to the west, all of whom lay on the ground unconscious.

"Do you have them covered?" Cheryl asked Betty.

"I… uh…yes?" Betty replied unsure.

Before Betty could ask anything Cheryl took off towards the group of soldiers to the North, flying just a few feet off the ground. As she did she summoned a golden sword in her right hand and a spear in her right. The soldiers fired at Cheryl, bullets ricocheting off of her wildly. Cheryl just grinned and readied her spear as she flew towards the nearest soldiers.

Cheryl lunged forward impaling the soldier through the chest with her spear. It had enough force that her spear went through into another soldier behind him. As Cheryl pulled her spear back she lashed out with her sword, lopping the head off of another soldier.

The soldiers showed no fear of death and just continued to attack Cheryl, resorting to using their guns like clubs. Their blows did affect her and the fact that they were moving closer actually made it easier for Cheryl to attack them. In a matter of minute all the men lay dead at her feet.

Barry had moved on to disarming the final group when there was a loud hissing noise. Barry barely got out of the way of an RPG round that had been fired in his direction. Betty looked to see that it was now heading towards Cheryl. Cheryl turned around just in time to get struck by the RPG which sent her flying backwards a good fifty feet where she landed in a heap.

"Cheryl!" Betty called out in concern.

Shaking her head, Cheryl climbed to her feet, looking unharmed. Betty let out a slight sigh of relief. She then quickly moved to assist Barry with disabling and disarming that last group of soldiers.

Seconds later the soldiers all lay on the ground unconscious. The only person beside Betty and the others was the Colonel.

"You Shall All Pay For This Insult To Lord Hiram!" the Colonel shouted at them.

"Yeah I don't know what you're saying," Cheryl said as she moved to stand next to Barry and Betty and Tim and Sabrina went to join them. "But you should probably get to telling us where Hiram is since I have a feeling you know."

"I Will Die Before I…" the colonel started to say before he suddenly burst into black flames.

Betty and the others all backed away unsure of what just happened. They watched as the Colonel screamed in agony before the flames completely consumed him.

" **I understand you're looking for me** ," a deep voice said.

They all looked around but couldn't see anybody.

"Show yourself Trigon," Sabrina ordered.

From just behind where the Colonel had been standing there was a second flash of black flames. When it cleared a male figure was standing there. He wore a fashionable blue suit with a red tie, but he clearly wasn't human. His skin was a bright red and like the Colonel he had two sets of glowing yellow eyes. However the face was quite clearly that of Hiram Lodge, he had the same white hair and the familiar white moustache that Hiram was known for. He also had horns or perhaps more accurately antlers, emerging from his head.

" **Not sure why you're calling me Trigon though** ," the figure said as he straightened his tie. " **Trigon is dead**. **I am Hiram Lodge** , **Soon to be the ruler of this whole world**."

"But how?" Sabrina asked in confusion. "My mother…"

" **Ah yes** , **Fierna** ," Hiram said with a chuckle. " **Once I'm done here I think perhaps I'll make a visit to her and make sure she stays dead this time**."

"But that doesn't explain…" Sabrina started to say again.

" **How I am in control and not Trigon**?" Hiram finished her question for her. " **You think I would be foolish enough to try and gain this power without making sure that I can control it**?"

"But my mother, she is a powerful witch," Sabrina said.

" **Yes** , **but Fierna was resurrected in Hell** ," Hiram said. " **But I brought Trigon's power here**."

Sabrina gave him a confused look.

" **I'm sure you've figured out why I gathered all those meteor rocks** ," Hiram said. " **It was to resurrect Trigon**. **However with the exact right timing of the resurrection spell, after my body had been infused with Trigon's power but just before his consciousness joined with mine I broke my connection with the meteor rocks which prevented his consciousness from joining mine and left me with all of his power**!"

Suddenly Cheryl hurled her spear at Hiram. However with reactions that rivalled Barry he reached up and caught just inches from his face.

" **Hmm** , **the silent armour** , **interesting** ," Hiram said.

Betty suddenly dashed forward and hit Hiram with a powerful uppercut. He went sailing through the air soaring miles out into the desert on the outside of town.

"That wouldn't have stopped him," Sabrina said.

"No but it bought us a little time," Betty replied. "Perhaps we can think up a strategy."

"I think we're going to have to attack him all at once," Tim said. "I don't see anything less working."

Cheryl and Barry both nodded in agreement.

"Alright then let's go," Betty said.

* * *

 _Riverdale's Supergirl has returned!_ _Thank you to all of you who have followed this story, and welcome to any new readers. The battle between our heroes and Hiram will take up pretty much all of the next chapter. Please review!_

*Where the Colonel is yelling at the heroes I originally changed the font to Wingdings so it literally looked like jibberish symbols. If you want to see the full effect check out the .PDF version of the story over at DeviantArt.


	57. Chapter 55

**Chapter 55**

* * *

The heroes made their way east out of Nouadhibou and into the Western Sahara desert trying to figure out where Hiram had finally fallen. Soon the landscape was nothing but sand and the night sky.

"How exactly are we supposed to find him out here?" Barry asked. "Everything looks the same."

"Betty punched him probably a good three to four hundred feet up into the air," Tim replied. "When he would have hit the ground it would create a substantial crater shape in the sand."

Tim glanced over at Cheryl who stared back at him for a moment before she suddenly understood.

"Oh okay," Cheryl said. "Let me go up and take a look."

Cheryl slowly floated up into the air hovering above the group.

"There," she said pointing almost directly ahead. "I see something on the other side of that dune."

She came back down to join them as they made their way through the desert.

"Don't tell Jughead but he was right about getting sand in places you don't want sand," Betty whispered to Barry.

Barry didn't say anything but just nodded in agreement before tugging on his costume. They reached the top of the dune and looked down to see a crater shape in the sand down near the bottom of the dune, about fifteen feet in diameter. However there didn't appear to be any sign of Hiram.

"Where is he?" Tim asked.

Sabrina looked around.

"I… I don't," she said nervously. "I don't know the extent of Trigon's powers or Hiram's ability to use them."

"I'll check out the crater," Barry said.

Barry took off down the dune towards the crater. He was nearly the edge of the crater when Betty noticed that the middle of the crater seemed to be shaking.

"Barry look out!" Betty called out.

But it was too late. Sand erupted upwards and Barry was flung tumbling through the air as the others watched stunned. Barry came crashing down landing on the sand with a soft thump. The others however barely noticed as they were fixated on what was emerging from the sand.

At first they thought it was a pair of trees, but then they soon realized that these were not trees but rather horns. Soon the head that the horns were attached to emerged and they were frightened. Hiram's four glowing yellow eyes were each bigger than their own heads. They watched in fear as he continued to rise up and up and up. Soon he had risen until her was about waist deep in the sand and he was already more than sixty feet high.

" **You insignificant little worms** ," Hiram said his voice so deep and loud they could feel the ground beneath their feet shaking. " **You think that you can stop me**?"

"What the hell are we supposed to do against that?" Betty asked.

"Same thing as before, hit him with everything we can," Tim replied.

As they watched Hiram raised his massive left hand in the air and curled it into a fist. They he brought it down looking to squash Barry. Betty darted forward using her speed and she was able to catch Hiram's fist just before it crushed Barry. She struggled mightily trying to stop him.

"Come on Barry get up," Betty muttered.

Seeing that Betty was in trouble Cheryl flew forward to help her. However before she could get close enough Hiram reached out with his right hand and snatched Cheryl out of the air. Cheryl struggled to try and get free but each of Hiram's huge digits was bigger than her legs and just as strong if not more so.

"That's two of our heaviest hitters," Tim said worriedly.

"You've still got me," Sabrina said.

As Tim watched Sabrina took a few steps down the dune they were standing on and then hopped and began floating up in the air towards Hiram. Sabrina held out both her hand in front of her and began softly muttering a spell under her breath. As she did her hands each began to glow with a purple energy. Hiram looked up towards her and suddenly beams of yellow energy fired from his eyes towards her.

"knilb!" Sabrina shouted.

She suddenly vanished from view and the beams flew past where she had been; a moment later Sabrina reappeared, this time closer to Hiram but also higher in the air. She fired the purple energy in her right hand at him striking him in the head but it seemed to have no effect.

Standing on the dune Tim wondered just what he could do to help. He didn't have any powers like the others and while he knew how to fight it what he knew was useless against an opponent this big. Tim took a look at what gadgets he had with him. He then realized he had a cryo-grenade and a flash bang. He got an idea on what he could do.

Tim charged down the dune running towards the giant demon CEO that was waist deep in the sand. He ran past Cheryl who was struggling to break free from Hiram's grasp. She went to call out to him but stopped as she had to renew her struggle against Hiram's huge fingers.

Betty also watched Tim run past as she struggled to save Barry from Hiram.

"Tim!" she called out.

She wanted Tim to drag Barry to safety but Tim ignored her and continued to run towards Hiram.

"Tim!" Betty called again but once more received no acknowledgement.

Up above Sabrina saw Tim running towards Hiram. She had no idea what he was doing but his charge seemed suicidal in nature. As she watched Tim her ran up towards Hiram's waist and punched him. Sabrina was certain he was about to get himself killed for nothing. Hoping to distract Hiram she fired her last blast of energy from her left at Hiram, striking him in the forehead but having no effect.

" **Fools** , **you cannot stop me** ," Hiram declared with triumph. " **I have become all powerful** , **this world is now mine**!"

"I don't think so," Tim said.

Hiram looked down to see the teen what had been futilely punching at his abs. Hiram hadn't even felt any of his blows they had been more insignificant than an insect.

" **You shall be the first to die** ," Hiram stated.

His eyes began to glow but then Tim suddenly threw something up into the air and began to run away. A moment later the flash bang exploded causing Hiram to cry out. He released his grip on Cheryl and took his fist away from Betty letting her drag Barry to safety as he brought his hands up to his eyes.

The five of them regrouped near the base of the dune as they watched Hiram clutch at his four eyes with his hands rubbing them.

"How did you know that would even work Tim?" Sabrina asked.

"His eyes are so large it just stood to reason that they would be even more sensitive than our own to a flash bang," Tim said. "Ah but there was one more little surprise."

Suddenly they turned to see Hiram let out and angry roar. They looked to see that Hiram's waist and all the sand below him had suddenly been frozen solid.

"Another one of those freezing grenades," Betty exclaimed.

Just then Barry finally started to wake up.

"Ugh, feels like I got hit by a truck," Barry groaned.

"No, bigger than that," Cheryl commented.

Barry looked to see Hiram roaring in anger.

"Holy crap!" Barry exclaimed. "How are we going to stop him?"

"I think I've got an idea," Tim said.

Everyone looked at him waiting for him to explain.

"Betty how powerful is your heat vision?" Tim asked.

"I dunno," Betty replied with a shrug.

"Could you turn sand into glass?" he asked.

"Yeah I guess so," Betty answered.

"How long can you keep it going for?" Tim asked.

"A while, I think," Betty responded a little unsure.

Tim then turned towards Barry.

"I already know what you want," Barry said. "You want me to create a sand storm around him."

Tim smiled and nodded then turned to Sabrina and Cheryl.

"So what do we do?" Sabrina asked.

"I need you to distract him," Tim said. "We know that he's faster than he looks so you've got to keep him distracted so he can't stop Barry."

"I've got a few idea on how to do that," Sabrina said with a smirk.

"What about me," Cheryl inquired.

"I need you to take me as high into the air as you can," Tim answered.

"What? Why?" Cheryl asked confused.

Suddenly a pair of retractable wings emerged from Tim's back; they were made from some kind of light weight metal and fabric like a hang glider's wing.

"I wouldn't be living up to the name Robin if I couldn't fly," Tim said with a smirk.

"But what are you going to do?" Sabrina asked.

"I need that dagger," Tim replied.

Sabrina gave a nodded and then a little reluctantly reached into her jacket and handed it to Tim.

* * *

Hiram let out one last roar as he rubbed his eyes and finally his vision seemed to have cleared. He was rather frustrated that he had been stalled temporarily by something as simple as a flash bang. It hadn't done anything other than blind him momentarily but that was frustrating given how powerful he now was. And the ice that had trapped him had melted.

He looked around for the five young people who had been trying to stop him but saw nobody.

" **Decided to run for it**?" Hiram asked loudly. " **You can't escape your death at my hands**!"

"Oh, get over yourself Hiram," somebody said.

Hiram looked down and was surprised to see his wife and daughter standing about twenty feet away. What was either of them doing here.

" **What are you doing here Hermione**?" Hiram demanded.

"We're here to watch you make a fool of yourself Daddy," Veronica said. "I mean really turning yourself into a giant demon to try and rule the world. Could you get anymore cliché?"

Hiram paused. Something was off about both of them. Veronica rarely spoke like that to him.

Before he could think on it further however the sand around him began kicking up and a large tornado. Hiram saw a red blur whirling around. He reached down to try and grab it when he suddenly found his whole face covered in ice. Growling Hiram cleared his face and looked up to see Sabrina floating at his eye level about three hundred feet away.

"Egral llab fo eulg!" Sabrina shouted.

A large sticky blob of something suddenly flew through the air towards him and struck him in the face. He reached up and realized that this was a huge mass of glue as his hands stuck to it. He let out an angry growl as he tried to pull his hands free and the glue from his face simultaneously. At the same time he could feel the sand pelting him.

"Betty now!" Sabrina shouted.

Betty was standing up on one of the tallest dunes and she unleashed a blast of her heat vision at him. The sand swirling around Hiram quickly melted and was turned into glass. Barry ran faster increasing the amount of sand in the air which was quickly melted onto Hiram.

* * *

Over five thousand feet in the air Cheryl was holding Tim by the under sides of his arms.

"This is enough," Tim said.

"You sure?" Cheryl asked.

Just then they both heard a noise from off to the northwest. They looked down to see a helicopter approaching with TV markings on it.

"Cheryl you need to get that helicopter out of here," Tim said.

Cheryl let go of Tim who began slowly gliding and then she flew down towards the helicopter which was rapidly approaching the battle. Cheryl flew as fast as she could and was soon flying alongside the helicopter. She grabbed onto the helicopter's skid bringing it to a stop in mid-air. She then pulled herself up to the right side door where the startled pilot looked at her his mouth agape.

"You need to get out of here now!" Cheryl shouted at him.

The pilot didn't respond but just stared out the window. It took Cheryl a moment to realize that he wasn't looking at her, but rather at Hiram. Hiram had removed the glue from his eyes and was unleashing a blast of his own eyes blasts towards Sabrina. Sabrina teleported away to safety but Hiram just turned his head towards the Helicopter. Before Cheryl or the pilot could do anything the helicopter was hit with a blast and it exploded.

Cheryl was flung backwards by the explosion landing roughly in the sand. As she picked herself up she saw Hiram unleash another blast at Betty who was sent flying.

Abruptly Barry stopped running kicking up sand; however Hiram was wrapped in about five feet of glassed sand.

" **You insolent bugs** , **you are only delaying the inevitable** ," Hiram shouted.

Just then Tim came swooping down a dagger in his right hand. However just before he was in range to strike Hiram, Hiram reached up and snatched Tim out of the air shattering all of the glass.

" **Well what do we have here**?" Hiram asked as he looked at Tim and more specifically the dagger he had. " **That dagger looks familiar**."

"Really, it shouldn't," Tim said with a smirk.

Hiram watched in shock as the dagger suddenly melted into a liquid metal which then evaporated.

" **What the**..." Hiram started to say when suddenly he stopped.

"Forget about somebody," Barry said from his spot on Hiram's shoulder.

Hiram didn't say anything. Barry had taken the dagger that Sabrina's mother had sent and stabbed it into Hiram at the base of his skull with enough force that it had severed his spinal cord. The one Tim had been holding had been a decoy that Cheryl had made from her Silent Armour.

Hiram let out a short gasp before he toppled forward and hit the ground face first and lay still.

"Yortsed eht reggad," Sabrina cast.

Suddenly the dagger vanished from where it was stabbed into Hiram.

"Did it work?" Barry asked as he joined Sabrina who was helping Tim get free from Hiram's dead fingers.

"I don't know," Sabrina replied. "I hope so. If it did then Trigon's power is gone for good."

"Doesn't matter," Tim said as he got to his feet and Cheryl and Betty joined them. "We did it. We stopped him."

All of them look at Hiram's huge corpse lying in the desert.

"So what do we do with him?" Betty asked.

"The helicopter crew definitely saw him," Cheryl said. "I don't see how they wouldn't have gotten video of it however brief."

"I can deal with the body," Sabrina said.

"We should definitely get rid of it," Tim agreed. "Last thing we want is some messed up geneticist trying to reverse engineer him."

"Then I guess all that's left to do is get back to Riverdale and let Sheila and Jughead know that the world isn't about to end," Barry said with a smile.

* * *

 _The threat of Hiram has been ended, but was Sabrina able to stop Fierna from stealing his power? Find out what the fallout of this is in the next chatper._

 _Also check out my deviant-art page for an illustration of the battle between Hiram and our heroes archie-fan$deviantart$com (just replace the $ with . )_


	58. Chapter 56

**Chapter 56**

* * *

"…and this footage was shot from a CNN helicopter that was heading towards Nouadhibou to investigate the reappearance of Hiram Lodge," the reporter said. "Please be advised that some of what you are about to see may be considered very disturbing."

The shot on the TV went from the news room to a shaky and lower resolution camera shot through the cockpit window of a helicopter. The camera bounced a bit until it began to focus on something.

"Now what you are seeing is a man believed to be Hiram Lodge," the reporter tried to explain for the viewers. "However he is waist deep in the sands of the Sahara desert and estimates put him at one hundred to one hundred and twenty feet tall. He also seems to have grown horns and his skin has taken on a bright red hue."

The shot then showed the sand around Hiram begin to swirl around him like a tornado, a faint red blur could be seen at the bottom of the whirlwind. The shot paused for a moment.

"Investigators are unsure as to what the cause of this whirlwind is," the reporter said. "But it is safe to say that whatever this red blur is, that is the cause."

The footage continued and it looked as though Hiram was talking to someone or something. Suddenly a large blob appeared out of nowhere striking him in the face.

"Officials aren't sure what it is that struck him in the face but from the footage it seems to be some sort of adhesive substance," the reporter said. "What happens next though is quite bizarre."

There was a momentary flash and the screen lit up red and then the sand swirling around Hiram began to stick to him and turn to glass.

"Whatever that red flash was it is obviously some sort of heat source that is melting the sand," the reporter said. "However investigators are still trying to figure out how it was able to be targeted only on Hiram Lodge."

On the couch Polly was seated beside Betty and she giggled.

"Do you think they'll figure out that it was you?" Polly asked.

"Maybe someday," Betty replied.

The camera watched as Hiram fought against the glass and to remove the glue from his face.

"Now here is the strangest part of the whole sequence." The reporter said.

The camera suddenly turned to the right and there was a blurry image of Cheryl shouting through the door. The camera paused.

"This girl, suspected to be Cheryl Blossom of Riverdale, New Jersey is in fact flying alongside the helicopter and telling them to leave the area." The reporter said. "Unfortunately the crew of the helicopter probably couldn't hear her over the noise of the rotors, which is unfortunate…"

Suddenly the screen lit up yellow and then the video abruptly ended.

"The helicopter at this point was destroyed," the reporter said. "So far attempts to locate Cheryl Blossom have been unsuccessful. And… what's that? I just received word that Cheryl herself has sent us a picture showing she's alive."

Moments later the screen showed a picture of Betty and Cheryl kissing from the prom. Polly burst out laughing while beside her Betty accidently broke the remote in anger. A moment later Cheryl entered the living room laughing.

"Oh man Betty," Cheryl said between laughs. "If you could see the look on your face…"

"That's humiliating," Betty said.

"It's not like I told them who you are," Cheryl said.

"Why would you want people to see that?" Betty asked angrily.

"Oh come on Betty lighten up," Polly said. "You all could have been killed. Is this really worse than dying?"

"No, but…" Betty started to protest.

"Oh isn't that cute," Alice commented as she entered the living room seeing the picture of Betty and Cheryl kissing. "You two look so lovely in your prom dresses. It's a shame you had to leave early."

"We could have our own little prom out at the farm," Polly suggested.

"It wouldn't be the same," Cheryl said.

Betty was still beet red and furious.

"I'm going to make this up to you, I promise," Cheryl said.

"How?" Betty asked suspiciously.

"Don't you worry, I will," Cheryl said.

* * *

Veronica turned off the TV and looked at her phone. She had hundreds of calls from dozens of media outlets asking for a comment. But what was she to say? She knew as much about what had happened out there in the Sahara as any of them did. She was probably just as surprised as they were to see that her father had transformed into a more than one hundred feet tall giant demon.

But Veronica had also been intrigued. It looked as though her father had been defeated by the combined efforts of several super powered beings. The red blur seen in the sand tornado was likely Barry Allen, and she suspected that the red flash was a being that had some sort of heat powers, and Cheryl Blossom who was known to be strong and capable of flying had tried to stop the helicopter. Veronica also suspected that Betty Cooper had been there as well as the magician Sabrina Spellman, whose magic Veronica suspected of being more than simple parlour tricks.

Just then her husband burst into the room.

"Veronica have you seen the news?" Maxwell asked.

"Of course I have sweetie," Veronica replied.

"Did you know what your father was doing?" Maxwell inquired.

"No," Veronica replied. "I thought he had plans on a smaller scale but this… it's beyond anything I could have suspected."

"I found out what happened after that video ended," Maxwell said.

"You did?" Veronica asked intrigued.

"One of my own satellites recorded what happened," Maxwell said. "I've been spending the last while cleaning up the footage. But I wanted you to see it with me."

"Oh that sounds intriguing," Veronica said as she gave her husband a kiss.

They made their way to Maxwell's lab where he had a bank of computers set up. He had a tablet sitting on a desk and he picked it up and tapped it a few times.

"Okay let's see what we've got," he said.

He played the footage and as they watched they saw Hiram emerge from the sand growing into a giant. However it looked like he had transformed into a demon before.

"Do you know how it ended up out here?" Veronica asked.

"Reports suggest something took place in Nouadhibou but my satellite couldn't pick anything up," Maxwell replied.

As they watched they could see Hiram battle several small figures however it was hard to distinguish what or who they were. Then the screen flickered for a brief second.

"What was that?" Veronica asked.

"The flash was consistent with a flash bang," Maxwell said.

"Hmph, a simple little grenade," Veronica chuckled.

They watched as the little figures retreated. Then they watched as two figures suddenly appeared in the sand out of nowhere in front of Hiram.

"Wait a minute," Veronica said staring at one of them. "Is that… is that me?"

She took the tablet from Maxwell and looked at it closer.

"What the hell?" she exclaimed.

"Obviously it isn't you," Maxwell said. "I'm guess that it's some sort of hologram or other illusion."

"And the other one… it's my mother," Veronica commented.

"A clever distraction," Maxwell said.

As they continued watching the sand began swirling around Hiram and then they saw another figure appear and launch a large ball of something into Hiram's face. Then there was a second flash and Maxwell stopped the footage.

"Now this is interesting, let me switch it over to the infrared view," Maxwell said.

He tapped a few things and the screen went to a monochrome red and black. It soon became obvious that the sort of the heat wave was coming from a one of the figures. It almost seemed to becoming from their eyes, but from this view from above it was hard to tell.

"Switch it back," Veronica said.

Maxwell tapped the screen twice more and it changed back. There was still a visible red wave.

"It's as though the heat generated is enough to make the very air glow," Maxwell commented.

The footage continued and then they watched as Hiram pulled the ball of goo off his face and looked towards the helicopter which had just begun approaching from the top of the screen. Yellow beams lanced from his eyes and the helicopter exploded in a fireball just a second later. The figure of Cheryl could be seen being flung to the sand.

Then something swooped quickly into view flying towards Hiram. Hiram reached out and caught but suddenly out of nowhere a red blur came up from behind him and a few moments later Hiram toppled to the ground and lay still.

"Well that seemed anticlimactic," Veronica said.

"It was clever," Maxwell said. "Your father was so distracted that he didn't know he was being attacked until it was too late."

"True," Veronica agreed with a nod.

"But I must say that this footage shows the potential of a team of super powered individuals," Maxwell said. "If we could recruit our own such team…"

"Let me stop you there," Veronica said as she put a finger on his lips. "I have something to show you."

* * *

Sabrina arrived at her aunts' house on the front porch. Before she even got to the door it burst open and Zelda and Hilda came out and hugged her.

"Whoa, whoa," Sabrina said. "What's this for?"

"We were so worried about you," Hilda said. "I mean you were taking on Trigon…"

"It wasn't actually Trigon," Sabrina said. "Hiram Lodge was able to use meteor rocks from another planet to bypass the restriction of Trigon not being able to come to Earth to resurrect him here but then that same restriction allowed him to end the spell at the precise moment where he had gained Trigon's powers but not had his consciousness join with him."

"That clever slimy bastard," Zelda cursed. "I've always hated lawyers."

"I don't think Hiram Lodge was a lawyer," Sabrina said. "Pretty sure he's just a business man."

"Whatever, they're all scum bags," Zelda said with a scowl.

"Well most of them," Sabrina said. "Not all are bad."

"Agree to disagree," Zelda said.

"So how did you manage to defeat him?" Hilda asked.

"My mother… er Fierna gave me a dagger," Sabrina replied.

Hilda and Zelda both looked shocked.

"Please tell me you didn't use it," Zelda said.

"We had to," Sabrina said. "I destroyed the dagger immediately afterwards."

"If Fierna gained even a portion of Trigon's power… the balance of hell will be thrown into chaos," Hilda said.

"That place is already chaos," Sabrina said.

"It seems that way, but there is an order to be seen in the chaos but now… let's hope you were successful," Zelda said.

Sabrina gave a grim nod.

* * *

 _Over one thousand light years away on the Planet Oa…_

Hal Jordan stood in front of the Guardians. Beings of great power, who had created a group of galactic police officers called the Green Lanterns. Guardians who each a ring that could create anything their mind could come up with.

Hal had been recruited to join the Green Lanterns almost fifty years ago. He had been a pilot for the United States Air Force during the Vietnam War flying an F-105 Thunderchief. In 1967 he had been shot down during a mission and had bailed out only to find himself behind enemy lines. He'd nearly been killed by a pair of Viet Cong combatants when he had been rescued by an alien named Abin Sur.

However Abin Sur had himself had been wounded in combat and had arrived on Earth looking for a successor to take on his Green Lantern ring and it had led him to Hal. Upon accepting the ring Hal had soon found himself soaring through the galaxy faster than light to the Planet Oa where he had been trained as a Green Lantern and had risen through the ranks to be one of the greatest ever to serve in the order.

"Hal Jordan you have served the Green Lanterns faithfully for years," said Ganthet one of the leaders of the Guardians. "But you served more than long enough. It is time for you to find a successor and to return to your own world."

Hal was surprised. Not just that he was being discharged, but also that he was going to return to Earth. He hadn't been to his home planet since he had left 49 years ago.

"Are you sure?" Hal asked.

"Hal Jordan, you are seventy four years old in your Earth years," Ganthet said. "You have spent almost two thirds of your life here. We believe you deserve to live out the last of your years on your home planet."

Hal gave a resigned sigh but nodded. He had to admit he was definitely starting to slow down. The ring had helped his body stay health but it couldn't stop age.

"We would like you to pick a successor from your planet," Ganthet added. "You were the first human to join and you became one of the greatest. Even if your successor is half the guardian you are they will be amongst the greats."

Hal smiled and looked at Ganthet and the other guardians.

"It has been a pleasure to serve you," Hal said.

He then took off into the sky in a green streak sailing off into space.

* * *

 _The fallout of the battle against Trigon has concluded. But a new question has arisen? Who is Hal Jordan going to choose as his successor to take up the title of Green Lantern? Please leave a review with your guess!_


	59. Interlude - Bulletproof Babes

**Interlude – Bulletproof Babes**

* * *

It was a few weeks later. The school year was starting to come to an end and final exams were just a few weeks away. Betty was about to go over to Sheila's house to study for a test. She was in her room when there was a knock on her window. Betty turned in surprise to see Cheryl outside floating in front of her window a grin on her face. Betty open the window and Cheryl entered. Cheryl had her backpack with her

"Cheryl, what are you doing out there?" Betty asked.

"Thought I'd surprise you," Cheryl replied. "Remember how I said I'd make it up to you for giving that picture to CNN?"

Betty face went red with embarrassment just at the thought of the picture of her and Cheryl kissing.

"What about it?" Betty asked.

"Well girl, you and I are going to have a beach day." Cheryl answered.

"A beach day?" Betty asked confused.

"Yep, just you, me and a tropical paradise," Cheryl replied.

"Huh?" Betty inquired confused.

Cheryl pulled what looked like a glowing military helmet from in her backpack. She grabbed Betty by the wrist.

"You ready?" Cheryl asked.

Before Betty could even ask or say anything Cheryl pressed both her and Betty's hands onto the helmet there was a sudden flash and then a moment later they were both standing on a sunny beach somewhere. Betty looked down to see that she was wearing a blue, red and yellow bikini. She then looked over at Cheryl to see that Cheryl was wearing a skimpy bathing suit that was so small it seemingly defied description. About the only thing Betty could say about it, was that it was red and flecked with gold, much like Cheryl's costume.

"Oh my god Cheryl!" Betty exclaimed. "That bathing suit…"

"You like it?" Cheryl asked with a smirk.

"It looks like something from a porn film," Betty replied. "And… is that actually your costume."

"As a matter of fact it is," Cheryl said. "And this is more the kind of thing you would see fitness competitors wear, not porn stars."

"Whatever," Betty said as she looked around. "So where are we exactly?"

The looked to be on an island somewhere just beyond the sunny beach was a lush jungle.

"An island in the South Pacific," Cheryl replied.

"The South Pacific?" Betty inquired as she looked up at the sky, she wasn't sure which direction was which but she could tell with was at least mid-morning. "But the South Pacific should be in darkness, or early morning at best. It's almost mid-day I would think."

"Ah yeah, that part of the beauty of this," Cheryl said holding up the helmet which was no longer glowing. "You see we sort of time travelled."

Cheryl then casually tossed the helmet out towards the sea. It flew at least five hundred feet before it landed in the water with a splash.

"Wait… time travelled?" Betty exclaimed. "How…?"

"Sabrina enchanted that helmet for me," Cheryl explained.

"The helmet you just threw away!?" Betty asked angrily.

"Oh the enchantment on the spell is done," Cheryl replied casually. "Basically it brought us back here for about six hours and when it's over, poof we'll be back in your room like we never left."

Betty gave Cheryl a look of utter disbelief.

"Time travel?" Betty said incredulously.

"Yeah pretty cool, eh?" Cheryl said. "Now come on we've got a beautiful day to enjoy."

Cheryl lay down in the sand her hands behind her head with her feet just close enough to the water that the gentle waves crept up around her ankles.

"Let's work on our tans," Cheryl said.

"I don't really tan," Betty said as she lay down next to Cheryl.

"No?" Cheryl asked quizzically.

"I think it has to do with my alien DNA," Betty said.

"Man I know you told me months ago, but I just can't think of you as an alien," Cheryl said.

"Well as far as I'm concerned I was born elsewhere but pretty much my entire life I've lived here on Earth," Betty said. "So I think of myself as human even if I'm not."

"That's probably a good thing for the rest of us," Cheryl said.

The two girls lay on the beach for a while just soaking up the sun and chatting idly, about school, boys and other things. Suddenly Betty sat up and looked around her sensitive hear having heard something.

"Cheryl, I know you said where we are, but perhaps I should ask when are we?" Betty asked slowly.

"Oh, um 1943 I believe," Cheryl replied calmly.

"1943?" Betty exclaimed.

Just then a group of four men suddenly emerged from the jungle. Betty immediately recognized them as Japanese soldiers. Cheryl had brought them to a Japanese occupied island during World War 2!

"Kimi wa! Anatahadare? Anata wa koko de nani o shite iru no?" one of the Japanese soldiers yelled at them.

Both Cheryl and Betty stood up looking at them. The soldiers pointed their guns at the two of them, clearly ready to use them.

"I got this," Cheryl said quietly to Betty.

She took a step towards them men her hands in the air.

"Konnichiwa," Cheryl said. "Wareware wa, kono utsukushi biichi de rirakkusu chodo ni tsu no Amerika-jin no supaidesu."

"Supai? Sorera o korosu!" the lead soldier said.

Cheryl just smirked and put her arms behind her head while Betty looked on a little surprised and concerned. Suddenly the men opened fire at the two teens much to Betty's surprise. Cheryl meanwhile was amused as the bullets bounced off of both of the girl's impenetrable bodies. Cheryl enjoyed the tingling feeling as bullets struck her breast causing them to bounce around.

" What did you say to them?" Betty asked.

"Just that we were two American spies," Cheryl replied with a smirk.

The Japanese soldiers stopped firing suddenly aware that their weapons didn't seem to be doing anything to the two girls.

"Karera wa kizutsuite imasu. Karera wa akumadenakereba narimasen!" one of them shouted fearfully.

"Come on let's do our patriotic duty," Cheryl said.

Cheryl lunged forward towards the men. One of them stabbed at her with the bayonet on his gun but the blade shattered against Cheryl's right breast. Cheryl snatched the gun out of his hand and snapped it in half over her knee effortlessly. She then grabbed the man by his shirt and flung him backwards sending him sailing out into the ocean as he screamed in terror.

The other men turned and began to run back towards the jungle.

"You should probably stop them," Cheryl called over her shoulder to Betty.

Betty gave Cheryl an annoyed glare and then suddenly with her speed she was in front of the three fleeing men her arms crossed in front of her chest. The men came to a stop staring at Betty in fright. Cheryl was soon behind them and the men found themselves trapped between the two girls unsure as to what to do.

"So what do you think we should do with them?" Cheryl asked Betty.

"I don't know," Betty replied. "Why did you bring us here?"

"For a little fun," Cheryl answered. "In three days' time US Marines are going assault this island. These men are probably going to die in a suicidal defense of the island. So we could be saving lives here."

"Wouldn't that change history?" Betty asked.

"If it would Sabrina didn't seem concerned about it," Cheryl replied.

Betty looked at the three terrified men.

"We can't kill them," Betty said after a momentary pause. "It's not our place."

"Well alright," Cheryl said. "But I can still do this."

She grabbed two of the men by their collars and flung them behind her effortless flinging them out into the ocean.

"Come on Betty it's fun," Cheryl said as she pushed the last soldier towards Betty.

Betty looked at the three other soldiers who were floundering in the water as they tried to swim back to shore. She had to admit it did look kind of funny.

"Alright," Betty agreed.

The last soldier's eyes went wide as Betty grabbed his shirt and lifted him off the ground with one hand. Without even winding back Betty flung him out towards the ocean and he landed about twenty feet past the other soldiers with a splash.

Betty and Cheryl both sat in the sand watching the soldiers as they made their way back towards the beach.

"So did you have fun today?" Cheryl asked.

"You know what I actually did," Betty admitted. "Thanks for this Cheryl."

Suddenly both girls vanished from off the beach, much to the surprise of the Japanese soldiers in the water.

A moment later Betty and Cheryl reappeared in Betty's bedroom, back in their original clothes.

"Well, have fun studying at Sheila's," Cheryl said.

As Betty watched Cheryl climbed out the window and flew off. Betty didn't think she would have as much fun studying as she had on the island with Cheryl.

* * *

 _Another brief interlude chapter although this one is a little more relevant than the Day at the Ballpark. I wrote this chapter to go along with some artwork I had done of Betty and Cheryl getting shot at and the bullets just bouncing off of them. You can find it over on my deviant art page at archie-fan$deviantart$com (replace the $ with .'s)_


	60. Chapter 57

**Chapter 57**

* * *

Exams were done and school had ended; summer vacation had begun. Cheryl arrived at the Cooper household looking for Betty, however when she rang the doorbell it was Polly who answered.

"Hey Polly, is Betty around?" Cheryl asked.

"No, I think she went out early today," Polly replied. "She might have gone out to the farm."

"Oh, okay then," Cheryl said. "I'll go look for her there."

Cheryl turned around and took off into the air flying out towards the farm.

"I am not going to get used to that," Polly muttered to herself as she closed the door.

* * *

Cheryl came to a landing outside the barn. She went inside but saw that it was empty. She then made her way over to the farmhouse, but Betty wasn't there either.

"Odd, maybe she's with one of the others," Cheryl thought to herself.

She took out her phone as she flew up into the air texting the others if they knew where Betty was. However as Cheryl flew over the farm she noticed something on the ground and she dropped down to a landing. In front of her was a large deep whole and down in it with a shovel and covered with dirt was Betty.

"Betty, what are you doing?" Cheryl asked.

Betty stopped digging and looked up a little surprised to see Cheryl.

"I'm digging up my ship," Betty replied.

"Your ship? Why?" Cheryl asked.

"It's time that I learned about where I come from, about my people," Betty replied. "Don't tell me you wouldn't be curious, I know you've been looking into your own birth father."

Cheryl nodded as she sat on the edge of the hole. She had indeed been looking into her father but it seemed to be nothing but a series of dead ends. She had found another clinic that had been similar to the Zephyrhills clinic her parents had used that was in Jupiter, Florida. However it too had closed and mysteriously vanished without a trace.

"You're right," Cheryl agreed. "I get it probably better than anyone else."

"So I think you understand why I have to do this," Betty said.

"Of course," Cheryl agreed. "And I'm not going to stop you, but have you told anybody else about what you plan to do?"

Betty stopped leaned on her shovel and was quiet for a moment.

"I'm going to take that as a no," Cheryl said. "But don't you think that you should? If you suddenly vanish I'm pretty sure they'll be quite worried. Your family is nothing like my family."

"I can believe I wasn't going to tell them," Betty said.

She jumped up out of the hole in a single leap landing beside Cheryl.

"Thank you," Betty said holding her hand out.

Cheryl took Betty's hand and Betty helped her to her feet.

"Not a problem," Cheryl said. "You've helped me become a better person, least I can do is make sure you don't do something inconsiderate like run off somewhere and not tell your parents."

* * *

Betty arrived back at her house. She noticed the mailman a few doors down heading away from the street. She went and checked the mailbox and saw there were a few bills as well as a plain white envelope with Polly's name on it. Oddly there was no return address.

Betty went inside and was almost immediately met by Polly.

"Hey sis," Polly greeted her. "Cheryl was here not that long ago looking for you."

"Yeah I was out at the farm," Betty replied. "Hey there's a letter here for you."

Betty handed Polly the letter and Polly glanced at it. Betty thought she saw a slightly surprised look on Polly's face.

"Are you going to open it?" Betty asked.

"Later," Polly responded.

Betty shrugged.

"So there was something I think I need to talk to you about," Betty said.

"Oh? What is it?" Polly asked.

"Well I think I should tell everyone at once," Betty said.

"Well, Dad is out back so I'll go get him, you get Mom from the kitchen," Polly said.

Betty made her way into the kitchen where her mother was baking cookies.

"Smells good Mom," Betty commented.

"Thank you dear," Alice replied.

"You should really consider applying for one of those TV cooking contests," Betty said.

"Maybe, but then what would you eat?" Alice asked.

"Well not Dad's cooking," Betty said.

Just then Polly and Hal made their way into the kitchen.

"So what is it you wanted to tell us?" Hal asked.

Betty took a breath and then looked at each member of her family.

"I'm going to use the ship to learn about where I came from," Betty declared.

There was silence from her family for a long moment, before finally Alice spoke.

"And you should," Alice said. "I'm sure you have a ton of questions, to be honest we do too."

"I don't trust that thing," Hal said. "But this is your decision to make, and I'll support you regardless of what you choose."

"We all will," Polly said.

"Thanks guys," Betty said as they all gathered for a group hug. "I hope I won't be gone too long."

"Just let us be there before you go," Alice said.

"Of course," Betty agreed.

* * *

Veronica and Maxwell Lord stood behind a large window as they watched as Daniel and Iris West raced through an obstacle course at speeds that made it almost impossible to see them with the naked eye.

"3.156 seconds for Iris and 3.159 seconds for Daniel, impressive," Maxwell commented. "I would say that Iris' slightly shorter stature is to account to her slightly faster time since it makes it slightly easier for her to go under several of the obstacles; while Daniel's height doesn't really provide him with any real advantage."

"I would concur," Veronica agreed. "But let's check on our other subject."

Maxwell and Veronica turned from the window to another behind them. Inside was Midge floating in a tank full of a clear watery-gel substance. Thousands of small insects could be seen floating in the tank along with her.

"The gene treatments seem to be working quite nicely," Veronica commented.

"Yes, and the idea to try and link her insect DNA with the design of my nanobots is quite ingenious," Maxwell added. "I look forward to seeing just what powers she ends up manifesting."

"Our team is coming along nicely but I think we're going to need at least one more member," Veronica said.

"I have an idea about that," Maxwell said.

"Oh?" Veronica asked.

"Yes, I was working on tidal power electrical generating station a few years back," Maxwell said. "Completely automated, low-maintenance, it was cutting edge technology."

"I recall reading about that," Veronica said. "The idea seems plausible whatever happened?"

"That's the thing," Maxwell answered. "The prototype station was up and running and was producing about 30Mw of power when suddenly it went offline."

"What happened?" Veronica asked.

"When my team and I went out to investigate we found it destroyed," Maxwell replied. "The odd thing was it looked as though it had been first attacked by sea creatures like dolphins or sharks and then caught in a waterspout. However we didn't find any of those animals in the area and there were no signs of weather that would cause a waterspout. I suspected it was probably sabotage by a competitor, possibly somebody with interest in nuclear power or coal, but now I'm not so sure."

"That is interesting, perhaps we should investigate it?" Veronica suggested.

"I couldn't agree more," Maxwell said. "And to make it more interesting it was just off the coast of Bermuda."

"Oh, well then that gives me an excuse to go buy some new bikinis," Veronica said.

* * *

Betty and her friends and family were at the farm. They were all gathered around the hole where the ship was. Betty was the only one in the hole as she dug the final bits of dirt off of the ship. It lay on its side dormant.

Betty glanced up at her friends and family and then placed her hand onto the side of the ship. Suddenly the ship seemed to come to life floating up and out of the hole. Everybody back up and Betty jumped up to join them. The ship seemed to look over all of them before it sort of focused on Betty pointing it's nose towards her.

"Kara Zor-El you have dug me up, why?" the ship asked.

"I am ready," Betty replied. "Ready to learn about where I am from."

"Very well," the ship said.

"Just let me say good-bye first," Betty said.

"Very well," the ship responded.

Betty turned to face her family and her friends, Cheryl, Barry, Dilton, Jughead and Sheila had all come to see her off.

"I'm going to miss you, all of you," Betty said.

"And we'll miss you," Alice responded.

Not wanting to prolong the good-bye Betty turned back to the ship.

"I'm ready," Betty said.

The ship shot a yellow beam from its nose which seemed to wrap Betty in a yellow field of energy. The ship then began to rise into the air lifting Betty with it. Betty turned around and gave a wave to everybody below before the ship suddenly shot off north quickly breaking the sound barrier with a loud boom.

 _To Be Continued in Riverdale's Supergirl – Year 2_

* * *

 _Let's call it the season finale for Riverdale's Supergirl. But it's not the end. When it returns Betty and the gang will be facing new challenges with new villains and new maybe some new friends._

 _It's been a pretty crazy year for Betty Kara Cooper, first she learned that she was an alien. Then her first boyfriend died in her arms. She met a speedster, and a friend of her gained super powers and she met magician whose magic was actually real. They faced down incredible dangers and saved the world._

 _So what's next in Year 2?_

 _Well Betty will be returning armed with knowledge from krypton and perhaps a new costume? We will see the Green Lantern come to Earth looking to choose a successor, but who will that be? Veronica and Maxwell are looking to create their own team of super powered individuals, but for what purpose? All these questions and more will be answered in Riverdale's Supergirl Year 2_

 _Thanks to everybody who has read the story so far and I hope you continue to read as Betty's adventure continues._


End file.
